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SUPREME COUNCIL,33' 


A.-.A.*. S.-.R.-. 

Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. 
Washington, D.C. 

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Class No, 


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. "SAFE!” CRIED JERRY, AND THERE WAS A BREATH 
OF RELIEF FROM ALL ON BOARD. 


Motor Boys Over the Ocean 


Page 21$ 







THE MOTOR BOYS 
OVER THE OCEAN 


Or 

A Marvelous Rescue in Mid-Air 


BY 


CLARENCE YOUNG 

n 

AUTHOR OF “THE MOTOR BOYS,” “ THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT,” “ 
MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS,” “JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL DAYS, 
“JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX,” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 


THE 

» 




BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG 


THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES 

(Trade Mark Reg. U. S. Pat. Office) 
i2mo. Illustrated 

Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid 

THE MOTOR BOYS 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO 

THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS 

THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE ROCKIES 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

THE JACK RANGER SERIES 

i2mo. Finely Illustrated. 

Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid 

JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS 
JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP 
JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES 
JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 
JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB 
JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


Copyright, 1911, by 
Cupples & Leon Company 

The Motor Boys Over the Ocean 


Exchange 

Wtsfary of Supreme Council A A 
Al»E 10,1940 






CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Ned Is Worried. 1 

II. News of Mr. Jackson.*4 

III. The Professor’s Quest.20 

IV. Noddy Nixon Makes Trouble.28 

V. “Stung!”.3 8 

VI. An Unlucky Blowout. 48 

VII. A Surprised Intruder.53 

VIII. A Disappointment. 68 

IX. Getting Even . 77 

X. Rebuilding the Comet. 88 

XI. On the Water. 94 

XII. In Peril. I0 5 

XIII. Off to the Meet. 111 

XIV. A Precarious Position. IJ 7 

XV. Bombarded with Rockets. 12 1 

XVI. An Angry Farmer. 128 

XVII. Held Prisoners. *34 

XVIII. The Escape. *4* 

XIX. At the Balloon Meet. *4 8 

XX. Mr. Jackson Is Gone. *55 

XXI. A Message for Help. T 59 























CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. To the Rescue.166 

XXIII. Over the Ocean.176 

XXIV. In the Hurricane.184 

XXV. The Clew.193 

XXVI. The Wreck.204 

XXVII. Attacked by a Whale.211 

XXVIII. The Singing Fish. 217 

XXIX. The Unconscious Crew.223 

XXX. The Rescue—Conclusion.228 











PREFACE 


Dear Boys: 

It hardly seems possible that I have written 
as many as eleven volumes of this series, yet such 
is the case. The present book is just one short 
of a dozen, and if you are pleased with this, 
perhaps I shall be encouraged to write the 
twelfth book. 

As for the present volume, I have endeavored 
to give you in it a stirring account of what hap¬ 
pened to Jerry, Ned and Bob after they had 
started out on an apparently simple errand to see 
a certain man. 

Ned Slade’s father was in business trouble, and 
the lad and his friends volunteered to ask aid 
from a Mr. Jackson. They started out to find 
him, only to learn that he had gone to a balloon 
carnival, as he was interested in air craft. The 
boys went to the aviation meet, and arrived just 
as Mr. Jackson went up in his big dirigible bal¬ 
loon. Instead of coming back, as he was ex¬ 
pected to do, the millionaire sent a wireless mes- 


PREFACE 


sage stating that he and his friends were being 
blown out to sea in a hurricane. 

He asked for help, and our heroes, in their air¬ 
ship, the Comet, started out over the ocean to the 
rescue. How they accomplished it, the perils 
they ran, the dangers from the escaping gas, and 
how they brought Mr. Jackson and his uncon¬ 
scious crew over a narrow plank, high above the 
ocean, into their own craft, you will find told of 
in this book. 

I venture to hope that you will like this book 
as well as you have those in the past, for that will 
encourage me to write others for you. 

Sincerely yours, 

Clarence Young. 


THE MOTOR BOYS OVER 
THE OCEAN 


CHAPTER I 

NED IS WORRIED 

“Well, Chunky, what do you think of the 
idea?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, Jerry. It seems as if it 
might be a good one, but we’ve got a fine air-ship 
now, and it would be a pity to spoil it.” 

“Who said anything about spoiling it?” de* 
manded Jerry Hopkins, in rather indignant tones, 
as he looked across the table at hTs chum, Bob 
Baker, whose stoutness had gained him the nick¬ 
name of Chunky. “Who wants to spoil the 
Comet, you old calamity howler?” 

“Well, aren’t you talking of ripping it apart 
and putting some new-fangled attachment on it? 
I say let well enough alone.” 

“Say, if everybody was like you, Bob, there 


i 


2 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


wouldn’t be much done in this world. ‘Let well 
enough alone!’ If Columbus had said that, Amer¬ 
ica would never have been discovered.” 

“Oh, get out!” 

“No, I’ll not. Here I come and propose a 
good improvement for our air-ship, something 
that will make it possible to do stunts over water, 
and you sit down on it!” 

“What, sit on the water?” asked Bob, with a 
mischievous grin. “You know I never was much 
good at floating, Jerry.” 

“Oh, cut it out! Now be serious if it’s pos¬ 
sible. Honestly, what do you think of the idea? 
Look at the illustration there. It shows a fel¬ 
low in an aeroplane getting his start on the water 
instead of on land, and rising up in the air. The 
article says that by means of the hydroplanes it 
is possible for an aeroplane to also land on the 
water and float. Now what I want to do is to 
attach hydroplanes to , our Comet. How 
about it?” 

“Gee! Anybody’d think you were delivering 
a lecture on aeronautics, Jerry! But, as I said, 

I don’t know what to say. You sprang this thing 
on me so suddenly. I’d like a chance to think it 
over.” 

“Think it over! Why, it oughtn’t to take long 


NED IS WORRIED 


3 


to decide on a feature like this. Our air-ship is 
old-fashioned now. We’ve had it quite a while, 
and you know there has been a big advance made 
among the birdmen lately. Hydroplanes are the 
latest idea, and I say we ought to put them on the 
Comet, and also make other improvements. But 
I can’t do it unless you and Ned agree, as we 
each own a third interest in our air-ship.” 

“That’s so. I wonder where Ned is?” and 
Bob looked out of the window, hoping he might 
see the third member of the motor boys’ trio. 
“Didn’t you meet him on your way over to my 
house, Jerry?” 

“No. I stopped for him, but his mother said 
he was down at his father’s department store. 
Say, I shouldn’t be surprised but what there was 
some trouble in the Slade family, Bob.” 

“Why?” asked the stout youth, his attention 
temporarily taken off the subject of air-ships by 
the serious tone in which his chum spoke. “What 
makes you.think that, Jerry?” 

“Because Mrs. Slade looked worried, and, 
come to think of it, Ned hasn’t been around much 
with us lately. He’s been down in the store a 
number of nights, helping his father on the books, 
he said. I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if there 
was some trouble in the business.” 


4 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“I hope not. But I wish Ned were here to 
help settle this question.” 

“It won’t take long to settle it when he does 
come,” retorted Jerry, rising and going over to 
the window, where he could get a better light on 
a magazine he had brought so that he too might 
show his chum some new ideas regarding air navi¬ 
gation. “I know Ned will agree with me,” went 
on the tall lad, “and you will be the obstructing 
party.” 

“Well, large bodies move slowly, you know, 
Jerry. It takes me some time to make up my 
mind. Just what do you want to do to the 
Comet , anyhow? Put in a new steam-heating ap¬ 
paratus, or add a gymnasium, and shower-baths, 
and elevators?” 

“Oh, don’t get funny, Bob! I’m serious. 
What I want to do is to add the hydroplane feat¬ 
ure. That’s the biggest improvement, though 
there are several smaller ones to be put in. But 
it won’t be much work to attach the hydroplanes. 
All we need to do is to build on some air-tight 
floats, or boxes, which will do on the water ex¬ 
actly what the bicycle wheels of an aeroplane do 
on land—support it. Then, in case we have an 
accident, say over the ocean, we can just drop 
down, and float until we make repairs. Or, for 


NED IS WORRIED 


5 


that matter we can swim along on the water.” 

“Why, you don’t expect to go over the ocean, 
do you?” 

“No, but you never can tell what you want to 
do,” declared Jerry, “and the hydroplanes might 
be very useful some day.” 

The time was to come, and that not far dis¬ 
tant, when Jerry’s prediction was to bear fruit. 

“Well, I’m not in favor of ripping the good old 
Comet too much apart,” declared Bob firmly. 
“She carried us many a mile, and did good serv¬ 
ice. Why, look at all we did in her. Look what 
a help she was in rescuing those poor people from 
the valley, when Professor Snodgrass got his 
flying lizard.” 

“That’s all true, but if we have a motor-ship 
that can go on the water, the professor can get 
a flying fish, or something like that, in case he goes 
along with us on the next trip.” 

“Oh, he’ll go all right enough,” spoke Bob, 
with a laugh. “Dear old professor! We 
wouldn’t know how to get along without him, 
though he sometimes does the oddest things.” 

“You’re getting away from the main discus¬ 
sion,” said Jerry. “What about making the 
changes?” 

“I’m not exactly in favor of them!” remarked 


6 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Bob, after a moment’s thought. “The Comet 
was always good enough for us as she is, and why 
change her?” 

“Oh, you and your ‘good enough’!” burst out 
Jerry. “Why don’t you have some progressive 
spirit in you?” 

“I have, only I don’t want to spoil a good 
thing and-” 

“Hello! Here comes Ned, now!” interrupted 
Jerry, looking out on the porch, the steps of which 
a youth was at that moment ascending. 

“Well, we’ll see what he says,” remarked Bob. 
“I’ll wager that he’ll agree with me.” 

“No, he’ll say that I’m right,” came from 
Jerry. “I’ll let him in.” 

Jerry was so eager to hear what the new-comer 
would say, and Bob, because of his fleshy build, 
was so slow in getting up that the tall lad was at 
the front door before the young host had reached 
the portal, and had admitted Ned Slade. 

“Just in time, Ned!” greeted Jerry. “You 
have the deciding vote.” 

“What about?” asked Ned, and his chums 
were at once aware of a change in his manner. 
He spoke listlessly, and as if he was little inter¬ 
ested. He seemed tired out, too, as if he had 



NED IS WORRIED 


7 

been working too hard, and yet it was only the 
beginning of the summer vacation. 

“It’s about our motor-ship,” began Jerry. 

“He wants to cut her all up, put on racing 
skates, or water shoes, or something like that, 
and add a lot of improvements,” broke in Bob, 
with a grin at his tall chum. 

“Hydroplanes! hydroplanes! not water shoes, 
you old backwoodsman!” cried Jerry. “Here, 
Ned, let me explain,” and with that the tall lad 
launched into a lively description of the proposed 
changes, with Bob interrupting every now and 
then with an objection, or with some queer com¬ 
ment. 

While the boys are thus engaged, I will take 
a moment to tell you something about them, for, 
though many of my readers are well acquainted 
with the motor lads, some of my new friends may 
never have been introduced to them. 

The three chums were Jerry Hopkins, son of 
a widow, Mrs. Julia Hopkins; Bob Baker, whose 
father, Mr. Andrew Baker, was a wealthy banker; 
and Ned Slade, son of Aaron Slade, proprietor of 
a large department store. 

The chums lived in Cresville, not far from Bos¬ 
ton, and they had gained the title “Motor Boys” 


8 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

from the fact that they had been associated with 
motor vehicles for a long time. 

Their early adventures on bicycles were told of 
in the first volume of this series, entitled, “The 
Motor Boys.” Later they got motor-cycles, and 
soon after that an automobile. In this machine 
they made a long trip overland, taking with them 
a certain Professor Uriah Snodgrass, a learned 
scientist, who was always searching for some 
queer bug, reptile, or butterfly. 

The boys went to Mexico, discovered a buried 
city, and returned across the plains, and later they 
purchased a motor-boat. 

In this fine craft, named the Dartaway, they 
had many adventures, not a few of which are set 
down in the fifth volume of the series called “The 
Motor Boys Afloat.” They made a long trip on 
the Atlantic, and during the following vacation 
had some surprising adventures in the Everglades 
of Florida. Some time later they made a voyage 
on the Pacific ocean in search of a mysterious 
derelict. On this and on other trips they had 
much trouble from a bully, Noddy Nixon, and his 
crony, Bill Berry. 

By this time the conquest of the air was well 
under way, and it might have been expected that 
our heroes would take part in it. They built an 


NED IS WORRIED 


9 

air-ship, with the aid of a Mr. Glassford, and 
a wonderful craft it was. Christened the Comet , 
their motor-ship was a combination of a dir¬ 
igible balloon and an aeroplane. That is, there 
was a gas bag, which alone would support the ma¬ 
chine in air, and there were also side planes, which 
were of service in case of accident to the gas bag. 

In the book called “The Motor Boys in the 
Clouds,” the air-ship is fully described, so I will 
not take up space here to give the details of its 
construction. Sufficient to say that it was capable 
of long flights; it had a powerful motor and 
other machinery, and there was a roomy cabin in 
which the travellers of the air could live in com¬ 
fort. Large propellers enabled the Comet to 
travel at a good speed. 

Aboard her the boys had some exciting times, 
and in the book named “The Motor Boys Over 
the Rockies,” they were the means of rescuing 
a party of white men and women who had long 
been held in captivity by a band of Indians. 

Returning from this trip, on which they were 
accompanied by Professor Snodgrass, our friends 
resumed their studies, and, now that winter was 
over, and vacation at hand, they were planning 
for new adventures. 

As has just been told, Jerry Hopkins had called 


10 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


on his chum Bob to propose certain changes in 
the Comet . 

“Well, what do you think of my scheme?” 
asked the widow’s son, as he finished explaining 
to Ned. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” was Ned’s rather listless 
answer. 

“Oh, for cats’ sake!” cried Jerry. “Don’t be 
as Bob was! Say something, even if you don’t 
agree with me. If both of you are down on the 
idea, that settles it, and we’ll leave the Comet as 
she is.” 

“That’s what I say!” remarked Bob. 

“Let’s hear what Ned has to propose,” sug¬ 
gested the tall lad. He looked at his other chum, 
but Ned appeared strangely indifferent. He sat 
looking out of the window, his thoughts appar¬ 
ently elsewhere. 

“Well, what about it, Ned?” asked Jerry, after 
a pause. 

“About what?” inquired Ned, with a start. 

“Why, this air-ship!” exclaimed Jerry, in some 
surprise. “Haven’t you been listening to what 
I’ve said?” 

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t paid much at¬ 
tention,” admitted Ned. 


NED IS WORRIED 


ii 


“What’s the matter?” demanded Bob. “Are 
you in trouble, Ned?” 

“Well, no, not exactly,” and Ned spoke slowly. 

“That is, Vm not, but dad- Oh, I forgot. 

I’m not supposed to tell,” and once more Ned 
gazed gloomily out of the window. 

“Look here, Ned,” spoke Jerry softly. “I 
didn’t mean to inflict this talk on you when you’ve 
got other things to think about.” 

“Oh, that’s all right, Jerry.” 

“And if there’s anything Bob or I can do-” 

“Of course,” broke in the fat lad. “Can’t we 
help you, Ned?” 

“Well, I don’t know. Dad doesn’t want it 
talked about, though it’s bound to come out soon, 
anyhow, I guess. If I tell you fellows it won’t 
go any further, will it?” 

“Of course not!” exclaimed Jerry and Bob to¬ 
gether. 

“I needn’t have asked that; I might have 
known it wouldn’t,” said Ned. “Well, the truth 
of it is that dad’s business is in bad shape.” 

“Do you mean that he is going to fail?” asked 
Jerry. 

“Well, it might amount to that, though we 
hope t© stave it off. I’ve been helping him on his 




12 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


books lately, that’s what makes me so tired. I’ve 
been up late for several nights. The business is 
in fairly good shape, and can be made better if 
we could do certain things.” 

“What are they?” asked Bob. 

“It’s too complicated to go much into detail 
over,” explained Ned, “but, in brief, it’s this: 
Certain opposition to dad’s department-store busi¬ 
ness is being organized by a powerful syndicate. 
Now, if dad could get the help and co-operation 
of a certain man, everything would be all right.” 

“Who is the man?” asked Jerry. 

“His name is Mr. Wescott Jackson. He once 
was in great trouble, and my father aided him. 
Dad knows that if he could get into communica¬ 
tion with this man he would be only too glad to 
help him, lend him his influence, and all that, and 
then the business wouldn’t suffer.” 

“Well, why doesn’t he ask aid of this Mr. 
Jackson, then, Ned?” inquired Jerry. 

“He’d be only too glad to, but he can’t locate 
him. And, another thing, dad’s enemies are inter¬ 
ested in keeping Mr. Jackson away from father. 
That is, they don’t want dad to get word to him 
of his trouble. So that complicates matters. If 
I could only talk to Mr. Jackson, and get his sig- 


NED IS WORRIED 


13 

nature to certain documents, everything would 
be all right.” 

“Well, why can’t you?” asked Bob. 

“I don’t know where to look for Mr. Jackson.” 

“Say! we’ve done harder things than that!” 
cried Jerry suddenly. “What’s the matter with 
the three of us having a hunt for this Mr. Jack- 
son? Can’t we aid you, Ned?” 

“I only wish you could.” 

“We can!” declared the tall youth, with en¬ 
ergy. “Bob—Ned! We’ll let the air-ship go 
for a while, and we’ll devote all our energies to 
finding Mr. Jackson. What do you say, Bob?” 

“I’m with you from the drop of the hat!” 

“Good! Then, Ned, you can consider that 
your father’s troubles, and yours, too, are in a 
fair way to be settled when the Motor Boys get 
on the trail,” and the tall lad clapped his chum 
on the back with hearty good-will. 


CHAPTER II 


NEWS OF MR. JACKSON 

“You feel better already, don’t you, Ned?” 
asked Jerry a little later, following a brisk dis¬ 
cussion of the possible plans for locating Mr. 
Jackson. 

“I believe I do,” answered the son of the de¬ 
partment-store proprietor. “It’s always a relief 
to be busy when you have trouble, for it takes 
it off your mind.” 

“Yes, and we’ll find that Mr. Jackson, too,” 
declared Bob, with energy. 

“I hope so,” added Ned. “But now, what 
about this new hydroplane business, Jerry? I 
can listen now with some attention since I’ve told 
you what was on my mind.” 

“Good! Then I hope you’ll agree with me,” 
and Jerry proceeded to describe in detail what he 
proposed doing. 

Ned listened attentively, and asked several 
questions, showing that he understood the plan 
proposed by his chum. 


14 


NEWS OF MR. JACKSON 15 

“Now then, Ned, are you with me or against 
me?” demanded Jerry, at length. 

“Against him!” put in Bob eagerly. “Don’t 
let him spoil the Comet!” 

“I’ll not spoil her,” cried Jerry. “Let Ned 
speak for himself, Chunky.” 

“Then I’m for it!” exclaimed Ned, with sud¬ 
den energy. “It’s quite a radical change, but I 
think it will be a good one. We may want to 
make a trip over water, but until I can help out 
my father I’m not going to do much else, so I 
can’t be of any aid to you, Jerry.” 

“Oh, that’s all right. We have all summer to 
make the changes in, and Bob and I can be doing 
part of it at odd times, while you’re working with 
your father on the books. Of course, I mean 
when we’re not looking for Mr. Jackson; eh, 
Bob?” 

“Do you think I’m going to help?” demanded 
the stout lad. 

“Well, you’re in the minority, and you always 
said the majority ought to govern. We’re two 
to your one.” 

“Oh, all right, go ahead!” exclaimed Bob, with 
a gesture of despair. “Put a bath-room in the 
Comet if you like, and I suppose I’ll have to stand 
for it.” 


i6 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“No, you can lie down when you take a bath,” 
observed Ned, with a grin, and his chums laughed, 
taking it as a sign that the lad was forgetting 
some of his worries. 

“Then we’ll go ahead when we get the chance,” 
observed Jerry. But now let’s go down to your 
father’s store, Ned, and tell him we are on the 
job.” 

“And get some idea of where to hunt for this 
mysterious Mr. Jackson,” suggested Bob. 

“Sure—yes,” agreed Jerry. 

Oh, I don’t know that he’s so mysterious,” re¬ 
marked Ned. “It’s only that he is a very busy 
man, and has so many interests—railroads, mines, 
ships, building canals and trolley lines—so many 
irons in the fire, that he may be in New York one 
day, and off for London or San Francisco the next. 
That’s why he’s so hard to get hold of. 

“Then, too, he’s interested in some kind of 
sport, I heard dad say. Yachting or motoring 
or something like that, I can’t just remember, and 
he’s likely to be off on a trip. Even his secre¬ 
tary doesn’t know where to find him sometimes, 
and when you stop to consider that the men who 
are working against my father have some in¬ 
terests in common with Mr. Jackson, and don’t 
want him to know of my father’s trouble, you 


NEWS OF MR. JACKSON 17 

can see that it’s going to be no easy proposition.” 

“Wouldn’t a letter reach him?” inquired Bob, 
as he got ready to accompany his chums out of the 
house. 

“We’ve tried letters and telegrams,” explained 
Ned. “None of them are any good. I heard 
dad say that sometimes letters follow Mr. Jack- 
son half way around the globe, and even then he 
doesn’t get them. Oh, he’s a hard man to get in 
touch with!” 

“But we’ll do it!” declared Jerry, when they 
were on their way to the department store. 

Mr. Slade was both surprised and pleased when 
his son, and the latter’s two chums, came into the 
office, and Ned had explained the decision at which 
they had arrived. 

“Boys!” exclaimed the merchant, “I don’t know 
how to thank you for your offer. I needn’t say 
that it is going to be quite a task, for Ned has ex¬ 
plained what a peculiar man Mr. Jackson is, but I 
like your spirit. I knew you and Ned were quite 
chummy, and had been through lots of adventure 
together, but I never imagined that vou’fl prove 
a friend to the older folks in the family. 

“It is certainly very good of you, and I appre¬ 
ciate it more than I can tell. I’m afraid, though, 
that it will break up your vacation plans.” 


18 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Not at all,” Jerry assured Mr. Slade. “We 
may get more fun out of hunting for Mr. Jackson 
than you imagine. We’ll try for him in the auto, 
and if that doesn’t catch him we’ll get after him 
in the motor boat, and as a last resort-” 

“The airship, with the new hydroplane feat¬ 
ure !” put in Ned with a laugh. 

“Exactly,” agreed Jerry. “But, Mr. Slade, if 
we are to find this odd man, we ought to have 
something to work on. Where was he located 
last?” 

“Out in San Francisco,” was the reply. “But 
where he went from there no one seems to know. 
He started East to inspect a new railroad he is 
building, and from then on all trace of him has 
been lost. I have agents in various parts of the 
country trying to get a trace of him, but so far—” 

Mr. Slade was interrupted by the sudden ring¬ 
ing of the telephone bell. He swung around to 
his desk, in the private office where the talk was 
taking place, and unhooked the receiver. The 
boys listened to the one-sided conversation. 

“Yes—yes,” said Mr. Slade eagerly. “What’s 
that? He is? Are you sure it’s the same man? 
In Boston, you say—No, just outside—what’s 
that? The name of the place is Durham? Yes, 

I get it. Oh, say, I’m ever so much obliged to 



NEWS OF MR. JACKSON 19 

you, Burkhardt. Yes, I’ll get right after him. 
In fact, I have some friends of mine here in the 
office now who are anxious to start off on the 
quest. Yes, they’re friends of Ned. Good-bye!” 

Mr. Slade turned to the three chums. 

“Boys!” he cried, “I have a trace of Mr. Jack- 
son. He was in Boston yesterday, and is now 
stopping at a health resort in Durham, resting up 
after a hard business campaign.” 

“In Durham!” cried Jerry. “That’s not far 
from here. We could do it in one day in the 
auto! We’re on his trail at last! Come on, fel¬ 
lows, let’s get ready for the trip!” 


CHAPTER III 


THE PROFESSOR’S QUEST 

The good news of the location of Mr. Jack- 
son was so unexpected, that, for a few moments 
the little party in Mr. Slade’s office hardly knew 
how to take it. Then they all began talking at 
once, at least the boys did, until the merchant, with 
a laugh, remarked that they were making so 
much noise that the clerks would think something 
serious had happened. This quieted the three 
chums. 

“Well, we’d better get started,” urged Jerry. 
“Mr. Jackson may get away from Durham any 
minute.” 

“Oh, I don’t believe he’s as bad as that,” ven¬ 
tured Mr. Slade. “If he’s there for his health 
he’ll be likely to remain for some time. I’d go see 
him myself, but I dare not leave my business at 
this critical juncture.” 

“Oh, we’re only too glad to try and get into 
touch with him for you,” asserted Bob. “How 


20 


THE PROFESSOR’S QUEST 21 

can we tell him if we meet him? Does Ned know 
him?” 

“No,” answered Mr. Slade’s son. “I never 
saw him, but dad has his picture.” 

“Then we can take that along, and do a little 
detective work,” suggested Jerry. “We’ll inquire 
for a Mr. Jackson, and if he’s like the picture he’ll 
be our man.” 

“I’m afraid the photograph wouldn’t be of 
great help,” said Mr. Slade. “It was taken a 
number of years ago, and I fancy Mr. Jackson 
has changed much in that time. However, I can 
describe him to you, and give you a letter to him, 
and that may answer. As I said, I ought really to 
go myself, but if I left here, my enemies would 
only make more trouble for me. Mr. Jackson is 
the only man who can help me.” 

There was more talk, and Mr. Slade gave his 
son and the latter’s chums some directions as to 
how to proceed. He also made out certain docu¬ 
ments, which, if Mr. Jackson would sign, would 
end the department store troubles. 

“Now to get our auto in shape!” exclaimed 
Jerry as they prepared to leave the store. “I 
hope we can get some speed out of the machine 
without too much tinkering.” 

“We’ll give it a try-out,” decided Bob. “Take 


22 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


a little run this afternoon, and see how she 
works.” 

The car the boys now owned was not the one 
they had had originally. It was a more powerful 
machine, though so interested had our friends 
been in airship matters of late, that they had not 
given their auto much use. 

That afternoon saw the three chums speeding 
down a quiet highway that led out of Cresville. 
The auto ran well, but they discovered a few de¬ 
fects and arranged to have them remedied at a 
garage. 

“Then we’ll start for Durham the first thing 
to-morrow, fellows!” cried Bob enthusiastically. 
“Say, it’s fun to be doing something again. It’s 
like old times!” 

“It sure is,” agreed Jerry. “Can’t you put on 
a little more speed, Ned?” For the merchant’s 
son was at the wheel. “Cut out the muffler, and 
use the accelerator pedal more. Make believe 
we’re after Noddy Nixon, and that he’s getting 
away from us. We may need speed if we have to 
race after Mr. Jackson.” 

They were ascending a hill, and Ned had turned 
on all the power he dared use, when, as he 
swung around a bend, a small man suddenly 
darted out right in front of the machine. 


THE PROFESSOR’S QUEST 23 

“Look out!” yelled Jerry, leaning forward and 
grasping the laprobe rail in front of him. 

“Jam on the brakes! Toot your horn!” cried 
Bob. 

Ned did not answer. He had instinctively done 
three things, blown the horn, jammed on the foot 
and emergency hand brake, and had turned to one 
side. He also gave a loud yell. 

But the man who had so suddenly brought 
about this commotion, paid not the least attention 
to the trouble he had caused. With a small net 
on the end of a long pole, extended in front of 
him, he was chasing a brilliant little red butterfly, 
which was flitting along, all unconscious of the 
danger so close to him. 

Suddenly the net went down with a swoop, and 
the butterfly was out of sight. 

“I got him! I got him! I have the little 
beauty! One of the rarest butterflies in this sec¬ 
tion of the country! It’s worth fifty dollars if it’s 
worth a cent! Oh, you little darling, I have you!” 
And the man went down on his hands and knees 
to get the prize from under the net. 

“Well, wouldn’t that make you—” began Ned, 
as he eased up on his foot pressure, and shut off 
the power. 


24 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

What he started to say he never finished, for 
Jerry cried out: 

“If that isn’t Professor Uriah Snodgrass, I’ll 
drink a pint of gasolene!” 

“Eh? What’s that? Were you calling me?” 
asked the little man in a mild voice, looking up 
sideways from his kneeling position on the ground. 
“Who wants Professor Snodgrass?” he inquired, 
peering through his spectacles. 

Then he caught sight of the boys, who were 
alighting from the car. Over his face there came 
a smile of welcome. He got up, holding in a sec¬ 
tion of the net, carefully gathered up in his fingers, 
the red butterfly. 

“Well of all the good luck!” cried the profes¬ 
sor. “Here I meet my friends the motor boys 
again, when I least expect it. One moment, my 
dear boys, until I have put this specimen safely 
away, and I’ll be with you. Well, of all the 
strange and remarkable coincidences! I was just 
thinking of you, when I saw this butterfly dart out 
of the bushes, and of course, I took after it.” 

“And nearly made an end to your collecting fad 
forever,” said Jerry. 

“How’s that?” asked the professor. 

“We nearly ran you down,” explained Bob. 


THE PROFESSOR’S QUEST 25 

“Oh, that? A mere trifle!” said the odd little 
scientist. “I run chances like that half a dozen 
times a day. I would risk almost anything for 
such a specimen. And what would I not risk if I 
could find the prize I am after?” 

“Are you after something new?” asked Bob, as 
he watched Mr. Snodgrass carefully put away in 
the cyanide bottle the red butterfly. 

“Yes, something very new,” answered Mr. 
Snodgrass. “I have been commissioned by the 
museum, for which I collect specimens, to get them 
a singing fish.” 

“A singing fish?” cried Ned, thinking it was a 
joke. 

“A singing fish,” replied the scientist. “That 
is, it does not exactly sing, but when taken from 
the water it makes a peculiar sound. It is said to 
be the only fish that does this. But, in addition, 
it has the power of flying for short distances out 
of the water, and it can also swell itself up to 
about twice its natural size. So you see it is a 
very valuable specimen to get, and very, very 
rare.” 

“But you can’t find it on land,” objected Jerry. 

“No, my dear boy,” admitted the professor, as 
he shook hands with his friends, “but I expect to 


26 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


shortly make a trip on the ocean. Then I hope to 
get my singing fish. I wish you boys were going 
on some voyage, and I could go with you.” 

“We are going on a trip, but it’s mostly a land 
trip,” explained Ned. “We may use the airship, 
though. It all depends; and if Jerry carries out 
his plans, and attaches the hydroplanes, we might 
make a sea trip, but that’s all in the air as yet. 
We’re looking for a certain man.” 

“And I’m searching for a rare fish,” went on 
the scientist. “At odd times I collect whatever 
specimens come in my way.” 

“What are you doing in this part of the coun¬ 
try?” asked Ned. “I thought you were in 
Boston.” 

“So I am, but I heard of a man out this way 
who knows the habits of the singing fish, and I 
want to get some information from him. So I 
came on, and, as the man was not at home I im¬ 
proved my opportunity by strolling out into the 
country to see what I could find. 

“I have been very fortunate; I find the red but¬ 
terfly, and I meet my former friends. Both are 
most delightful surprises. But, may I ask, who is 
the man you are seeking?” 

“Mr. Wescott Jackson,” answered Ned, after 
a moment’s hesitation. 



THE PROFESSOR’S QUEST 27 

“Wescott Jackson! Not the wealthy pro¬ 
moter?” cried Professor Snodgrass. 

“That’s the man,” declared Jerry. 

“Well, if that isn’t odd!” exclaimed the scien¬ 
tist. “Why I know him. In fact, he and I are 
great friends. He is one of the trustees of the 
museum where I am employed, and I once did 
him a great favor, in getting him a certain old rare 
Aztec altar, for he collects antiques. Yes, I know 
Mr. Jackson quite well.” 

“Then you are the very man for us!” cried Ned 
in great delight. “Here, we can’t lose sight of 
you. Hop into the auto, professor. You help us 
locate Mr. Jackson, and we’ll help you get the 
singing fish! Is that a bargain?” 

Mr. Snodgrass gazed through his spectacles at 
the boys for a moment. 

“It is!” he exclaimed suddenly, as he got up 
into the auto; and Ned started off the machine. 


CHAPTER IV 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 

“Hold on a moment, boys! Stop the car. Jam 
on the emergency brake, or whatever you call it. 
I must get out! Quick!” 

Thus cried Professor Snodgrass about half an 
hour after he had entered the auto with the boys. 

“What’s the matter?” demanded Ned, doing as 
requested, and bringing the machine to a sudden 
stop. “Have you lost your hat, Professor?” 

“Easy now! Don’t talk or move! Keep per¬ 
fectly quiet!” Speaking in a whisper, the sci¬ 
entist slid from his seat with his small butterfly 
net in his hand. Gliding forward like a hunter in¬ 
tent on making a shot at big game, the little man, 
his eyes fairly glaring through his spectacles, 
made his way cautiously to a small bush beside the 
roadway. 

“What’s he after now?” asked Jerry with a 
hopeless look at his companions. 

“I don’t know. A new kind of five-legged bug 
or a reddish-green hoptoad,” whispered back Bob, 
28 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 29 

for, though they were very fond of their friend 
the professor, they could not help, at times, crack¬ 
ing jokes concerning his pursuit after his quarry. 

“Please don’t make a move!” called the scien¬ 
tist to the boys, without looking around. “I’ll 
have the beauty in a moment now!” 

“If he keeps this up,” commented Ned, “we’ll 
never get to Durham in time to catch Mr. Tack- 
son.” 

“That’s so,” agreed Bob. 

“But we need the professor’s help,” argued 
Jerry, “and if he knows Mr. Jackson, the latter 
may receive us better than he would if we came 
alone, and he may sign the papers more readily, 
Ned.” 

“In that case I’ll stop the machine at every mile¬ 
post, and let the professor catch bugs to his heart’s 
content,” declared the merchant’s son, for he was 
very much in earnest in his efforts to aid his father. 

“Ah! There he is! I have him!” suddenly 
exclaimed the professor, as he made a swoop with 
his net. The next minute he was holding a small 
portion of the flimsy cloth in his fingers, and in¬ 
specting at close range some fluttering captive. 

“What is it?” called Jerry. 

“Is it a valuable specimen?” Bob wanted to 
know. 


30 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“It’s a three-winged—oh, pshaw! No, it isn’t 
either! I’ve made a mistake!” exclaimed Mr. 
Snodgrass in disappointed tones. “It’s not the 
kind I want at all—they’re too common,” and with 
a sigh he opened the net and let fly out some sort 
of a bug or insect. 

“What was the trouble?” asked Ned, as he 
started the motor on the spark, and waited for the 
professor to retake his seat. 

“I thought I had a three-winged dragon-fly,” 
replied the professor. “I caught a glimpse of him 
perched on a bush as we were dashing by, but 
when I had him in the net I saw that he had four 
wings, and was of the ordinary variety. A three¬ 
winged dragon-fly would be a rarity, and worth 
considerable, but the ones with four wings are 
worthless. Well, better luck next time,” and with 
that the scientist got in, and the auto was started. 

Mr. Snodgrass once more began eagerly to 
scan the bushes on either side of the road, hoping 
for a sight of some other prize in the insect line, 
while the boys talked among themselves about the 
prospects of meeting Mr. Jackson. 

“Are you sure you are ready to go off with us 
on a trip, Professor?” asked Jerry, when he and 
his chums had spoken of the possibility of making 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 31 

a voyage in the motorship. “We can’t tell where 
we’ll end up in this chase, though.” 

“I’ll go anywhere you go,” was the quick re¬ 
ply, but the little man never took his eyes off the 
bushes, for he was ever on the alert for specimens. 

They rode forward for some time longer, thor¬ 
oughly enjoying the trip, and then, as it was get¬ 
ting late and they wanted to take the car to the 
garage to have it put in shape for the trip to Dur¬ 
ham the following day, they turned back, and 
made a quick run to Cresville. 

“Good luck!” called Mr. Slade after the party 
as the auto chugged off the next morning, the pro¬ 
fessor being on hand early. 

They were to be gone at least three days, for 
it would take one day to go to Durham, another, 
or perhaps two, to negotiate with Mr. Jackson, 
provided they could find him, and still another day 
to come home. They would put up at a hotel in 
the meanwhile. 

It was a fine day, the auto was in good shape, 
and, on the hard roads they made good time. Of 
course Professor Snodgrass was ready with his 
net, and on the lookout for any prizes he might 
spy, but the boys hoped he would not stop too 
often, and delay them. 


32 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

They had covered perhaps thirty miles, and 
were bowling along at fast speed, Mr. Snodgrass 
being a little disappointed that he had not seen 
anything worth capturing, when, as they swung 
around a turn in the road, they saw, just ahead of 
them, a place where a ditch was being dug along 
the highway, to allow the laying of pipes. Dirt 
had been thrown up on either side of the road, 
leaving only a narrow path for the auto to pass 
through. 

“Look out for that spot, Jerry,” called Ned to 
the tall lad, who was steering. 

“All right,” was the ready response, and the 
speed of the car was somewhat checked. 

“Can you make it?” asked Bob. “It looks 
pretty narrow to me.” 

“Oh, I’ll do it,” answered Jerry, but, as he 
came nearer, and saw how very narrow the open¬ 
ing was, he brought the car to a stop. “Who¬ 
ever did this excavating had lots of nerve to take 
up so much of the road,” he went on, as he got out 
to measure the space more carefully. “They’ve 
gone off and left it, and I don’t see any signs that 
they have lights here at night. It would be a bad 
place to get to after dark.” 

While he was looking at the obstruction they 
were all startled by hearing the sound of an auto 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 33 

horn, blown with an energy and persistence that 
seemed to be a protest at their occupancy of the 
road. 

“Some one’s in a hurry,” commented Ned, and, 
looking down the road, in the direction in which 
they were going, they saw coming toward them an 
auto containing two figures. It advanced swiftly. 

“Hold on! Look out! Stop!” yelled Jerry, 
holding up a warning hand. “I don’t believe 
there’s room to pass!” 

In spite of his injunction the other machine 
came on until, the occupants getting near enough 
to see the narrow pass, they brought the car to an 
abrupt stop. When it halted the three motor boys 
uttered a simultaneous exclamation at the sight of 
the occupants of the car. 

“Noddy Nixon!” gasped Ned, and his chums 
echoed his words. 

“Well, what of it?” snarled the bully. “Isn’t 
this a free country? Can’t I go where I like?” 

They did not take the trouble to answer him, 
but gazed at the man seated beside him. 

“Bill Berry,” murmured Jerry. “Here’s a fine 
chance for trouble, and I shouldn’t be surprised if 
we got some of it.” 

“Back up your car, and let me pass!” insolently 


34 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

demanded Noddy, as he prepared to throw in 
his gears and start ahead. So close was the ve¬ 
hicle of our friends to the narrow passage that 
there was not room for the other car to get by. 
“Back up !” went on the bully. “What right have 
you to block the highway?” 

“The same right that you have!” fired back 
Jerry. “We don’t want to block it up, but we were 
here first, and it’s your place to reverse and let us 
past.” 

“Reverse nothing!” muttered Bill Berry. “Run 
’em down, Noddy, if they won’t let you by.” 

“I will!” declared the bully. “You’d better 
back up!” he called out, threateningly. 

“Don’t give in to him,” urged Ned in a low 
voice to his tall chum. 

“I’m not going to,” answered Jerry. 

“Isn’t there room for us to pass him?” inquired 
Bob, for Noddy’s car was a little farther back 
from the obstruction than was that of our heroes. 
“I think you can make it.” 

“It’s a pretty tight squeeze, but I’ll chance it if 
I have to.” 

“Well, are you going to back up, and let me 
pass?” demanded Noddy again. “You’d better 
or I’ll smash into you!” 

‘Just try it!” retorted Jerry, a flush mounting 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 35 

to his cheeks. “It’ll be the last smash you ever 
make!” 

“Why don’t you be decent, Noddy?” asked 
Ned, in what was intended to be conciliatory 
tones. “You can back up easier than we can; and 
besides, we were here first. Why don’t you do 
it?” 

“Because I don’t want to. I’m in a hurry.” 

“So are we,” said Ned, as he thought of the 
necessity for seeing Mr. Jackson. 

“Come on,” spoke Jerry in a low voice to his 
chums as he turned to reenter the car, for they 
had all left it, including Mr. Snodgrass, who was 
eagerly looking about in the bushes for some rare 
insect. “Get back to your seats,” went on the tall 
lad, “and I’ll try to get through. It’s the only way 
to do with such a chap as Noddy.” 

“What about the professor?” asked Bob in a 
low voice, for the scientist was some distance away 
from the car now, having walked back along the 
road. “If we call to him Noddy will hear us, and 
guess what we’re up to.” 

“Wait until we get past, and then we can stop 
and wait for Mr. Snodgrass,” advised Ned. 

“Good idea,” commented Jerry. “Hop in 
lively now!” 

They were in their seats a moment later, and 


36 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Jerry very luckily started the engine on the spark. 

“Here! What are you going to do?” yelled 
Noddy, as he caught the chugging of the motor. 

“We’re going on,” replied Jerry calmly, as he 
threw in the gear. As he let the clutch slip into 
place, the car suddenly shot ahead. 

“They’re going to ram, you Noddy!” yelled 
Bill Berry. “Look out!” 

“Nothing of the sort! We’re going to try to 
pass,” called back Ned. 

“Go ahead, Noddy!” cried Bill. 

“Look out or there’ll be a collision!” cautioned 
Bob, for Noddy’s machine was also trying to slip 
into the narrow passage ahead of the car of our 
friends. 

“Stay where you are!” warned Jerry. “I can 
make it if you stand still for a second!” 

“Well, I’m not going to!” flared up Noddy, and 
as the tall lad urged his car toward the little strip 
of roadway between the piles of dirt, steering with 
skill, the bully also sent his machine toward the 
same place. 

A head-on collision seemed imminent, and for 
an instant Jerry’s heart failed him. He was about 
to jam on the brakes and stop, when he saw that 
by putting on a spurt of speed he could just 
make it. 


NODDY NIXON MAKES TROUBLE 37 

His foot pressed the accelerator pedal, and 
with a snort, the auto of the motor boys shot 
ahead through a narrow opening. 

“Look out!” shouted Ned. “You’ll have us in 
the ditch, Jerry!” 

Jerry gave the steering wheel a quick twist to 
get clear of the ditch, and also to avoid running 
into Noddy’s car which was now forging toward 
him. 

He just managed to pass by, and was steering 
back on the road again, when, before he could 
possibly avoid it, a little spotted calf dashed out 
of a lane leading into the highway. 

The small animal, with a bleat, got directly in 
the path of the auto of our friends, and stood 
there with its legs far apart. 

“Look out!” shouted Ned. “You’ll hit it, 
Jerry.” 

But it was too late. The force acquired from 
the sudden spurt could not be overcome in an in¬ 
stant, even though Jerry jammed on both brakes 
with all his force. 

A moment later he hit the calf squarely and the 
unfortunate little creature went down in the road, 
under the car. 


CHAPTER 35 


“stung!” 

“Here, hold on there! Stop that gasolene con¬ 
traption ! I’ll have th’ law on ye fer runnin’ down 
my calf-critter! What right ye got t’ go racin’ 
around th’ land killin’ a poor man’s critters right 
an’ left? Hold on, I’ll sue ye fer damages!” 

A grizzled old man, wearing a pair of ragged 
overalls, with a ragged blue jacket to match, and 
with a bunch of white whiskers on his chin wig¬ 
gling up and down as he shouted the above words, 
rushed down the lane out of which the spotted 
calf had come, and shook his fist at the lads in the 
auto. 

“Hold on there!” he repeated. 

“We are holding on,” remarked Jerry grimly, 
as he got out and looked under the car at the calf. 

The creature had not been touched by the 
wheels, but lay between them. Unnaturally still 
it lay, nor did it bleat or give a sign of life. Jerry 
took hold of the tail, and was about to pull it 
38 


STUNG! ” 


39 


out, hoping it was not much hurt, though his heart 
misgave him. 

“Here, what ye goin’ t’ do?” demanded the 
angry farmer. 

“I was going to pull the calf out from under 
our car,” replied Jerry. “It—it fell there.” 

“Humph! A likely story. I saw ye delib¬ 
erately run down my calf-critter. You let it alone 
until I git some witnesses, an’ prove a case agin 
ye! Let it alone!” 

“I guess it’s dead, anyhow,” said Ned in a low 
voice, as he stood beside Jerry. 

“Deader than a lobster,” added Bob. “You 
must have hit it an awful poke, Jerry.” 

“Keep quiet, can’t you?” urged Ned. “This 
skinflint of a farmer will hear you,” for the man 
was gazing at the trio of lads with angry eyes. 

Noddy Nixon, with a look of triumphant gloat¬ 
ing on his face, came forward, followed by Bill 
Berry. Professor Snodgrass, oblivious to every¬ 
thing save his favorite pursuit, was some distance 
down the road, using his net with energy. 

“I didn’t hit it hard at all,” Jerry said. “The 
calf ran right across the road. Why I hardly 
struck it at all. I had the brakes on ready to stop, 
anyhow.” 

“Don’t talk to me about brakes!” snapped the 


40 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

farmer. “Ye broke my calf’s neck, an’ it was a 
valuable critter. Don’t ye dare touch it till I git 
some witnesses, an’ prove a case on ye. I want 
damages, an’ heavy damages, too! I want wit¬ 
nesses.” 

“We’ll be witnesses for you!” broke in Noddy 
eagerly. “It was entirely the fault of those fel¬ 
lows that your calf was killed, Mr.—er— 
Mr.— ?” he paused suggestively. 

“Sackett is my name—Ebenezer Sackett, of 
Tewkesbury Township,” supplied the farmer. “I 
live right over that way a short piece, jest below 
th’ hill. I was drivin’ my calf down the lane, when 
all to onct this rip-snortin’ ragin’ and tearin’ auto¬ 
mobile comes along an’ kills him. I want dam¬ 
ages, an’ heavy damages, too!” 

“We saw them kill the calf,” went on Noddy, 
seemingly eager to array himself against the 
motor boys, and on the side of the farmer. 
“Didn’t we, Bill?” 

“Sure we did,” answered the bully’s crony. 

“Then you must have very good eyesight,” re¬ 
marked Jerry cuttingly, “for you were in your car, 
and how you could observe the calf, when it is so 
small that it doesn’t come to the top of our radia¬ 
tor, is more than I can understand.” 

“Well, we saw it just the same, Mr. Sackett,” 


STUNG! 


4i 


went on the ugly bully. “They killed your animal, 
and you ought to make them pay for it.” 

“That’s what I intend,” asserted the farmer. 
“I’ll attach their machine, that’s what I’ll do ef 
they don’t pay. Hi there, Abner!” he called, as a 
man, evidently one of the hired help, came hurry¬ 
ing along the lane, “Abner, you go notify Con¬ 
stable Higbie that I got a case fer him. I want 
these fellers arrested fer killin’ my spotted calf 1” 

“Gosh all hemlock!” cried Abner, as he stared 
at the scene before him. 

“You go git th’ constable,” repeated Mr. Sack- 
ett, “an’ I’ll hold these fellers until you come back 
with him. I’ll show ’em that they can’t monkey 
with Ebenezer Sackett of Tewkesbury Town¬ 
ship.” 

“Isn’t it against the law to let animals run at 
large on the highway?” asked Ned of Mr. Sack¬ 
ett. 

“He wasn’t runnin’ at large,” was the answer. 
“I was leading him, an’ he broke away from me. 
Ye can’t git out of it that way. I want damages 
an’ I’m goin’t’ have ’em! Th’ constable will be 
here soon, an’ ye kin take yer choice of payin’ or 
goin’ t’ jail.” 

How long this dispute might have been kept up 
it is difficult to say, but Professor Snodgrass ar- 


42 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

rived just then, and, hearing the story, endeav¬ 
ored to conciliate the angry farmer. But there 
was no subduing Mr. Sackett. 

“I want damages!” he declared firmly. 

“Oh, say, there’s only one way to end this,” 
said Ned finally, putting his hand in his pocket. 
“It wasn’t our fault, but I suppose we’ve got to 
stand being gouged by this fellow. I’ll pay him, 
Jerry, as this trip is on my father’s account, and 
then we can get along. How much was your 
calf worth, Mr. Sackett?” 

“Fifty dollars ef he was a cent!” 

“Fifty dollars!” gasped Bob. 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Professor Snodgrass, 
who could be very practical on occasions. “I 
know something of farm animals. Pull that calf 
out, Jerry, and let’s look at him.” 

Jerry and Ned grasped the tail, and soon had 
the creature out in the highway. The farmer 
offered no further objections to it being moved, 
now that it seemed as if he was in a fair way to 
collect damages. 

“Humph! A very young calf,” commented 
Mr. Snodgrass. “Hardly fit to kill for veal. 
And it doesn’t seem to have been hit very hard.” 

“No, it was a very gentle blow,” said Jerry. 


STUNG! 


“The car was almost at a standstill when he ran 
into it.” 

“It must have died easily,” went on the scien¬ 
tist. “Now, Mr. Sackett, you’ll have to lower 
your figure, for I know that calf was never worth 
any fifty dollars.” 

“Well, it’s wuth forty.” 

“Forty? Nonsense. If you sold it for fifteen 
you’d be getting more than it was worth. We’ll 
give you twenty dollars for the animal, and not 
another cent.” 

“I’ll not take it,” stormed the farmer. 

“That’s right! Make ’em pay more, or sue 
’em!” put in Noddy. 

“You mind your own affairs, Nixon!” said the 
professor curtly, and Noddy slunk back toward 
his machine. 

“Will you take twenty dollars, or will you let 
the matter go to court?” asked the scientist, taking 
some bills from his pocket, and motioning to the 
boys that he would conduct the case for them. 

“I want thirty dollars, anyhow,” said Mr. 
Sackett. “Ha! Here comes Abner with the 
constable. Now we’ll see what happens.” 

“Offer him twenty-five, and I think he’ll take 
it,” said Ned in a low voice. “We can’t stay here 
any longer.” 


44 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“All right, if you say so,” agreed the profes¬ 
sor, “but I think I could get him down to twenty. 
Well, Mr. Sackett,” went on the scientist, “we’ll 
pay you twenty-five dollars, and not another cent. 
If that’s not satisfactory we’ll give the constable 
a bond, and we’ll fight the case in the courts.” 

This was said with such an air of decision that 
the farmer saw that it was useless to stand out 
for more. 

“I’ll take it,” said Mr. Sackett reluctantly, “but 
th’ calf was wuth forty dollars ef it was a cent.” 

“Nonsense!” declared the professor, as he 
paid over the money. “Haul the carcass out of 
the way, and we’ll be getting on, boys.” 

“It’s a regular case of hold-up,” muttered Ned, 
as he dragged the calf farther out of the path of 
the auto. 

The farmer pocketed the money with a gleam 
of satisfaction in his eyes. Noddy Nixon, look¬ 
ing disappointed, perhaps because the motor boys 
had not been arrested, started back to his ma¬ 
chine, followed by his crony, and soon they were 
chugging away down the road. Our friends and 
the professor entered their car. 

“Whew! That was a hot time while it lasted!” 
remarked Bob, when they had gone on some dis¬ 
tance. 


STUNG! 


“Yes, and all Noddy Nixon’s fault,” added 
Ned. 

“Talk about highway robbers,” declared Jerry, 
“Mr. Sackett comes pretty nearly being one.” 

They were filled with righteous anger against 
Mr. Sackett, and this was added to when they 
learned something about him when they stopped a 
little later at a country hotel for dinner. 

While they were waiting for the meal to be 
prepared they got talking to the hotel clerk. 
They mentioned their experience with Mr. Sack¬ 
ett, and told of paying for the calf. 

“Excuse me, strangers,” broke in a farmer 
who was seated near a table reading, “but was 
this calf you speak of a brown and white spotted 
one?” 

“It was,” answered Jerry. 

“With a very long tail?” the man wanted to 
know. 

“Very long,” spoke Ned, who had particularly 
noted the appendage as he dragged the creature 
out of the way. 

“And was it a thin, poor-looking sort of a 
calf?” went on the man'. 

“It was,” said Mr. Snodgrass. “You seem to 
know this calf in question.” 

“Know it? I guess I do!” was the answer. 


46 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“And I know Eb Sackett, too. Why that calf had 
been condemned by the county inspector of cattle, 
an’ Eb had been ordered to kill it. Th’ calf had 
some catchin’ disease, an’ Eb was under orders 
t’ git rid of it inside of twenty-four hours, or pay 
a fine of fifty dollars. He was takin’ it off to 
shoot it, when you must have bunked into it.” 
“Are you sure of this?” asked Ned. 

“Course I am, strangers. Why, I’m a deputy 
cattle inspector, an’ I’m on my way now to see if 
Eb carried out the orders he got. But if you 

say the calf is dead there ain’t no use in me goin’ 
” 

on. 

“Oh, it’s dead all right,” replied Jerry with a 
queer look at his chums. 

“And we paid twenty-five dollars for the priv¬ 
ilege of killing a calf that had been condemned, 
and would have been killed, anyhow,” murmured 

Ned. “Well, if we weren’t-” 

“Stung!” interrupted Bob. “Stung good and 
proper!” 

“By Mr. Ebenezer Sackett,” added Jerry. 

“I guess his name ought to be Mr. ‘Sock-it,’ in¬ 
stead of Sackett,” commented the hotel clerk. 
“That certainly was a swindle he worked on you, 
gentlemen, and he socked it to you!” 

“And it ain’t the fust time Eb’s done a trick 



STUNG! 


like that, nor it won’t be the last,” spoke the 
deputy cattle inspector. “I’m sorry for you boys, 
an’ if you want to go back, an’ make him give 
up your money, I’ll do all I can for ye.” 

“I’d like to, but we haven’t time now,” replied 
Ned, as he thought of the necessity for hurrying 
on to see Mr. Jackson. 


CHAPTER VI 


AN UNLUCKY BLOWOUT 

“Easy marks, that’s what we are,” commented 
Ned, as with his chums and Professor Snodgrass, 
he sat down to dinner. “Very easy marks.” 

“It might have happened to anyone,” declared 
Jerry. “But it sure does make me sore to think 
how he cheated us on that calf deal.” 

They were still talking of Mr. Sackett, and, as 
the account of the happening became generally 
known in the hotel, many stories showing the 
meanness of the miserly farmer were told to our 
heroes. Mr. Sackett was characterized as a 
“skinflint” of the worst kind. 

They started off again, soon after dinner, and 
made up for the time lost over the calf transaction 
by speeding up to the limit allowed by the law, 
and, in places where there were particularly good 
roads, and where there were no houses, they even 
exceeded the limit slightly. But their necessity 
justified it. 

“Think we’ll make Durham before dark, 

48 


AN UNLUCKY BLOWOUT 


49 


Jerry?” asked Bob, as he noticed the sun begin¬ 
ning to sink low in the west. “How much farther 
is it?” 

“The last sign-post said thirty miles,” re¬ 
marked Ned, “but if it’s anything like the usual 
post, that means it will be at least forty before we 
strike Durham.” 

“In that case we won’t get in until after dark,” 
was Jerry’s opinion. “But we have powerful gas 
lamps, and it won’t matter much. Here, Ned, 
you take the wheel a bit, I’m tired.” 

The machine was stopped while the change was 
made, and they went on again. Jerry cast sev¬ 
eral anxious glances at a bank of clouds gathering 
in the west, and Bob, also noting them, remarked: 

“I think we’re in for a storm.” 

“Shouldn’t wonder,” agreed the tall lad. “Hit 
her up for all she’s worth, Ned. Take a few 
chances. I don’t believe there’ll be any speed- 
constables out now.” 

It soon became evident that they were not go¬ 
ing to make Durham before nightfall. In fact, 
after passing one post by which they were in¬ 
formed that their destination was thirty miles 
farther on, the next one made it thirty-two. 

“Say, according to that we’re going backward,” 
commented Ned. 


50 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Don’t mind,” advised Jerry. “Keep right on, 
and when we arrive we’ll be there.” 

“Wise man,” asserted Bob with a laugh. 

The threatened storm gathered more quickly 
as the afternoon waned, and they had not gone 
many more miles before the rumbling of thunder 
increased, and the intermittent flashes of lightning 
became almost continuous. 

“We’re going to be in for it,” warned Bob, as 
the first few splashes of rain came. 

“Yes, we’d better stop, put up the top, and the 
side curtains,” advised Ned. “I want the wind 
shield up, too, for I don’t like the rain in my 
face.” 

They were soon better prepared to stand the 
downpour which quickly came, and with the heavy 
curtains and the top up, they were fairly snug and 
comfortable in the auto, as it chugged off through 
the darkness. 

“Ugh!” suddenly grunted Ned, as he felt the 
wheels leave the hard macadam road, and slip 
into the soft mud of a dirt highway. “Now we’re 
in for it.” 

The auto labored on, losing time as the rain 
turned the highway into a veritable slough. The 
downpour got heavier, and a wind springing up, 
seemed to force the water through every crack 


AN UNLUCKY BLOWOUT 51 

and crevice of the protecting curtains. The light¬ 
ning, too, was incessant, and the thunder claps 
came with startling rapidity. 

“Beautiful! Beautiful 1 ” grumbled Bob. “It’ll 
soon be as black as tar, and we’ll get stuck ten 
miles from nowhere.” 

“Oh, don’t find fault,” advised Jerry good- 
naturedly. “We may make it yet.” 

Ned peered anxiously ahead through the mist 
of rain, seeking to make out the road, which was 
illuminated by the powerful gas lamps. It was 
risky driving, but there was no help for it, and he 
was not well acquainted with the route. 

“Can’t you get a little more speed out of her?” 
asked Jerry, when there came a lull in the storm. 

“I’m afraid to risk it,” replied the youthful 
steersman. “If we happen to hit a big stone it 
will be all up with us. Wow! This is Lonesome- 
ville for fair!” 

They were on a dark and deserted stretch of 
the road. There seemed to be no houses within 
miles, and the storm was at its height. 

Suddenly there was a sound like a gun shot. 
The motor boys started, but well they knew what 
it was. 

“A blowout!” groaned Bob. 

“I should say it was,” agreed Jerry grimly. “It 


52 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

couldn’t have happened at a worse time, either. 
Where in the world are we?” 

He peered through a crack in the curtains, out 
on the dismal rain-soaked blackness, but could 
make out nothing. 

“Well, there’s no help for it. It’s up to us to 
put a new shoe and tube on,” spoke Ned, who 
had quickly brought the car to a stop. Then the 
three lads, having donned rubber coats, which 
fortunately they carried with them, got out of the 
car, and stood in the mud, with the rain pelting 
them, while they made ready to repair the dam¬ 
aged tire. 


CHAPTER VII 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 

“Going to stand here looking at it all night?” 
demanded Jerry after a pause, during which his 
two chums had vainly sought to prevent the rain 
from trickling down inside the collars of their 
coats. “Do you think the tire is going to mend 
itself, Bob?” 

“I only wish it would!” devoutly exclaimed 
Chunky. “Wow! This is fierce!” 

“No help for it,” mumbled Ned, as he wiped 
the dashing rain drops from his eyes. “Hand me 
the jack, Jerry, I’ll get the car up, you can take 
off the tire and we’ll make Bob put on the new 
shoe and tube. That’s a fair division of labor.” 

“I’ll be gum-swizzled if I can see it, as Mr. 
Sackett would say,” exclaimed the fat lad. “You 
give me the hardest part to do.” 

“Good for reducing flesh,” remarked Jerry as 
he reached under the seat and got out the jack 
and a new inner tube. “Fetch around one of the 


53 


54 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

oil headlights, Bob, so we can see what we are 
doing, and unstrap a shoe.” 

Bob started for the lantern, splashed into a 
deep mud hole, and uttered an exclamation of 
disgust. 

“Wow! Say, I’m in up to my knees!” he com¬ 
plained. 

“And I’m gradually sinking down,” added 
Ned. “It looks as if we were in a bog, or a quick¬ 
sand. Fellows, I do believe the auto is going 
down!” 

“Hey! What’s that? The auto sinking?” 
cried the voice of Professor Snodgrass. For the 
time being the boys had forgotten about him, and 
he seemed to have either fallen into a slumber, 
or to have been thinking so deeply there in the 
darkness that he was not aware of the acci¬ 
dent. “Don’t tell me we’re sinking!” he im¬ 
plored. 

“Well, if we’re not, it’s a good imitation of it,” 
declared Jerry, as he looked at the wheels of the 
auto, now deep in the soft mud. 

“Oh, what will become of my valuable speci¬ 
mens?” cried the scientist. “I must save them!” 
and he leaped from the auto, holding in his arms 
half a dozen small boxes. He landed in a puddle 
of water, which splashed all over the motor boys, 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 


55 

and their sudden exclamations of dismay further 
added to the alarm of the professor. 

“I didn’t know we had run into a river!” he 
cried. “Why didn’t you warn me? I was think¬ 
ing of a plan to capture the singing fish, and I 
didn’t pay any attention to where we were going.” 

“Neither did the auto, apparently,” remarked 
Ned. “But it’s not quite as bad as a river, Pro¬ 
fessor. We’re comparatively safe. You’d bet¬ 
ter get back under shelter, and we’ll fix the tire,” 
for the little scientist was speedily being drenched, 
as he stood there in the storm without a protect¬ 
ing coat. 

“Thanks. I believe I will. I wish I could help 
you boys. Wait until I put my boxes where they 
won’t get wet, and I’ll do what I can.” The 
professor reentered the car. 

“No, we’ll manage,” declared Jerry. “Get 
busy with the jack, if you’re going to, Ned.” 

The merchant’s son went around to the wheel 
on which the tire had burst, and stooped down in 
the mud and water, while Bob held the lantern. 
The wind blew more powerfully, fairly stinging 
the rain into the faces of our heroes. They were 
deep in the muck, and even their raincoats were 
but small protection. 

Ned tried to slip the jack under the axle, but 


56 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

the foot of the implement went so far down into 
the mud that no purchase, or lifting power, could 
be obtained. 

“Get me a flat stone, or several of them, or a 
fence rail, or something to put under the jack,” 
ordered Ned, straightening up with a groan of an¬ 
guish. “I’ve got to have something to set it on. 
Get busy, Chunky! Look around with your lan¬ 
tern for a flat rock.” 

“Say, do you think I’m going to do it all?” 
demanded the stout lad in injured tones. 

“You haven’t done anything yet,” retorted Ned 
sharply. The storm and the accident was getting 
on the nerves of all of them, and tempers were 
sorely tried. 

“Here, Bob, I’ll help,” broke in Jerry good- 
naturedly, with the intention of pouring oil on 
troubled waters. “I’ll get the other lantern and 
we’ll give an imitation of two Diogeneses looking 
for a flat stone.” 

As the tall lad made his way forward, splashing 
through the mud and water to detach the other 
headlight, Professor Snodgrass, who had safely 
packed away his specimen boxes, uttered a cry. 

“Look, boys!” he called, “there’s a light com¬ 
ing this way. Maybe it’s another auto, and they’ll 
help you.” 


57 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 

They all looked. Down the road, dimly seen 
through the mist of the rain, was a bobbing light. 

“If that’s an auto it’s either got the blind stag¬ 
gers, or else it’s steering itself,” remarked Ned. 

“It’s a man with a lantern,” declared Bob. 

“And he’s coming this way,” added Jerry. 

“That settles it,” went on Ned, throwing the 
jack back into the tonneau. 

“Settles what?” demanded Jerry. 

“This repair job. I’m going to wait until 
morning. We can’t do anything in the storm and 
darkness.” 

“What are we going to do? Stay out here all 
night, stuck in the mud?” asked the tall lad. 

“We’re going to stay stuck in the mud all right, 
I guess, fellows,” retorted Ned, as he watched 
the progress of the moving light, “but we’re not 
going to stay out here all night, not to my way of 
thinking.” 

“Why not? Where are you going?” inquired 
Bob. “Do you see a hotel off in the distance?” 
and he pretended to look like the villain in the 
play, who shades his eyes with his hand and 
gazes down the wings, for a sight of some one ap¬ 
proaching on horseback. 

“Here’s how I size it up,” went on Ned. 
“There’s a man coming with a light. He’s walk- 


58 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

ing, so evidently he doesn’t live far from here, or 
he’d be riding. If he lives around here there 
must be some sort of a house, and when he gets 
here I’m going to ask him to take us in. I’d be 
willing to sleep in a stable to get out of this storm. 
We can leave the auto here, and in the morning 
we can put on a new tire, and start off. How 
about it?” 

“It sounds good to me, if the man will take us 
in,” agreed Jerry. 

“You’ll soon be able to tell,” remarked the 
professor. “He’s almost here.” 

The bobbing light approached nearer, and 
soon, by its rays, the boys could see that the lan¬ 
tern was carried by a grizzled farmer, who wore 
a horse blanket as a raincoat. He stopped, and 
standing in a puddle of water demanded: 

“Are ye stuck, strangers?” 

“That’s what,” replied Jerry. 

“Can you accommodate us over night?” asked 
Ned quickly. “We’re willing to pay you well.” 

“Oh, I guess I could put you up,” drawled the 
man. “I live all alone, jest a piece down the 
road. I saw the lights on your machine, an’ I 
sensed that suthin’ were wrong, so I come out t’ 
help. This is a powerful bad bit of road, an’ lots 
of machines has trouble. Generally they comes t’ 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 59 

me fer help an’ I does what I kin. If ye’ll walk 
along I’ll light th’ way, though it’s a measly bad 
storm.” 

“Will it be safe to leave the auto here, boys?” 
asked the professor. 

“Oh, yes,” replied Jerry. “No one could run 
away with it to-night, but I’ll take the precaution 
of locking the ignition system, and that will pre¬ 
vent anyone tampering with it. I guess we’ll go 
with you, Mr.—” He paused and looked at the 
farmer. 

“Buttle is my name, Enoch Buttle. Come right 
along. I ain’t got a very scrumptious place, but 
ye’re welcome.” 

“I must get my valuables!” exclaimed the pro¬ 
fessor suddenly, as he reached back under the 
seat where he had piled his specimen boxes. “It 
would never do to leave them here.” As he 
emerged with the small packages in his arms, 
shielding them from the wet as well as he could, 
Mr. Buttle looked at the scientist sharply, and 
asked: 

“Suthin’ ye’re particularly fond of there, neigh¬ 
bor?” 

“I should say so!” exclaimed Mr. Snodgrass. 
“There’s at least a thousand dollars in these 
boxes.” He referred to his valuation of his speci- 


6o MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


mens. A sharp and crafty look passed over the 
farmer’s face. It was gone in an instant, and 
before the boys, who were busy getting the auto 
in shape to leave standing on the road, had had 
a chance to notice the expression. 

Splashing down the muddy road the four fol¬ 
lowed the lead of the farmer, and his bobbing lan¬ 
tern. The red tail light of the auto, as well as 
the two oil headlights had been left burning, so 
that no other traveller would crash into the ob¬ 
struction. 

Rather discouraged by their plight, pretty well 
wet through, anxious about getting an early start 
in the morning, there was no very cheerful spirit 
manifested among our friends as they trudged on. 
Professor Snodgrass carried his boxes, oblivious 
to everything else, even the pelting rain, which 
soaked him through. Jerry wanted the scientist 
to take his stormcoat, but Mr. Snodgrass would 
not hear of such a thing. 

“Keep it yourself, Jerry,” he said. “I’m used 
to being wet through in my business. I’ll soon 
dry out when we get to Mr. Buttle’s house.” 

“Can’t I carry your valuables for you?” asked 
the farmer who was walking beside Mr. Snod¬ 
grass. 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 61 

“Oh, no indeed! I never let anyone but my¬ 
self take these precious things,” replied the sci¬ 
entist. “If anything should happen to them I 
never could replace them.” 

A little later they were at the farmhouse. It 
was a small one, quite old-fashioned, and, from 
what little glimpse the boys had of it as they en¬ 
tered, it did not seem to be in very good repair. 

“Here’s where I live,” said Mr. Buttle. “It’s 
not very good, but it’s the best I’ve got. Now I 
can make you a cup of coffee, and fry some ham 
and eggs, if you’d like ’em.” 

“Would we?” cried Bob, and there was a hun¬ 
gry gleam in his eyes. 

“Wa’al, I’ll git right t’ work. I do my own 
cookin’. I’ve got an oil stove. Git off your 
things, an’ I’ll git th’ meal. I dunno whether 
we’ll call it supper or brekfust, but it don’t much 
matter. I’ll be right back, an’ after ye eat I’ll 
make ye up some beds on th’ floor. It’s the best 
I kin do.” 

“Oh, we’ll be glad to get them,” said Ned, “no 
matter what they are.” 

The old man, with a quick glance at Professor 
Snodgrass, bustled from the room, and our 
friends proceeded to take off some of their wet 


62 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

garments, hanging them over chairs near an old- 
fashioned fire-place in which, in spite of the fact 
that it was summer, a blaze was cheerfully burn¬ 
ing. 

“This will dry us out,” observed Jerry, holding 
his benumbed hands to the flames. 

“That’s right, git close to th’ fire,” remarked 
Mr. Buttle, as he came in a little later, leaving 
open the kitchen door, whence came the savory 
smell of ham and eggs, mingling with coflee. “I 
lit th’ fire when the storm come up.” 

“Say, does it strike you that our host hasn’t 
the most pleasant face in the world?” asked Jerry 
of his chums, when the old man had again gone 
out. 

“You shouldn’t look gift-horses in the mouth,” 
observed Ned. 

“You can’t see his mouth—too many whisk¬ 
ers,” came from Bob with a chuckle. “I’m glad 
we’re going to feed, anyhow.” 

“No, but seriously, I don’t like his looks,” 
went on the tall lad. “If we had any valuables 
I’d feel like putting them under my pillow, pro¬ 
vided we get one when we go to bed.” 

“Oh, you’re nervous,” declared Ned, and then 
conversation on that line came to an end, for Mr. 


A SURPRISED INTRUDER 


63 

Buttle announced supper. It was as good a meal 
as could be expected under the circumstances, and 
the boys and the professor did full justice to it. 

“An’ now for beds,” announced their host, and 
a little later, having been gone from the room for 
some time, he came back to state that the sleeping 
arrangements were completed. 

“I’ll have to put you three young fellows on 
beds on th’ floor in one room,” he said, “an’ Mr. 
Snodgrass kin have th’ next room. It’s the best 
I kin do.” 

“Can’t we all be together?” asked Jerry, with 
a suspicious glance at his companions. 

“I’m sorry, but my house ain’t quite big 
enough,” was the answer. 

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Professor Snodgrass ha¬ 
stened to say. “I’ll take all my valuables in with 
me, for I wouldn’t want anything to happen to 
them. I’ll be all right, and we can leave the door 
open between.” 

Jerry felt that it would hardly be right to say 
anything more, and so, in about half an hour, 
when they were nearly dried out before the wel¬ 
come blaze, they went up to the improvised bed¬ 
rooms. 

“I thought you said we could have the door 


'64 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

open between our room and the professor’s?” 
asked Jerry when he had looked at the arrange¬ 
ments. 

“Wa’al, I did think so, but I jest discovered 
that th’ connectin’ door is locked, an’ I can’t find 
th’ key,” said Mr. Buttle, nervously moving 
about. 

“Oh, it won’t matter,” was the professor’s 
opinion, and he went into his apartment carrying 
with him his precious boxes of specimens, while 
Jerry, with growing suspicion, caught a crafty 
look which Mr. Buttle gave the scientist. 

“Lock your door, Professor,” whispered the 
tall lad, as they prepared for bed. “Lock it, and 
put a chair against it.” 

“What for?” demanded Mr. Snodgrass. “Do 
you think-?” 

“I don’t like the looks of that man,” went on 
Jerry. “Put your watch and money under your 
head. We’ll do the same.” 

“Oh, you’re too fussy,” declared Bob, as the 
footsteps of their host could be heard descending 
the stairs, after he had called a “good-night” to 
them. “You’re nervous, Jerry.” 

“Well, perhaps I am, but Pm going to lock our 
door just the same. No use taking chances.” 

Jerry did so, and also took the precaution to 



A SURPRISED INTRUDER 65 

draw a chair against the portal. He called to 
know if Mr. Snodgrass had done the same. 

“Yes,” replied the scientist, “though I have no 
fear. My watch is only a cheap one, and I didn’t 
bring much money with me. I will put my speci¬ 
men boxes where no one can get at them without 
awakening me.” 

In spite of his worries Jerry was soon asleep, 
as were the others, for they were tired and worn 
out. Ned was thinking anxiously of what the 
morrow might bring forth, and he hoped soon to 
be in communication with Mr. Jackson. 

Just what hour it was Jerry could not deter¬ 
mine, but he was suddenly awakened by a noise as- 
if some one had pushed a chair across the room. 
Instantly all his suspicions came back to him, but, 
before arousing his companions he made up his 
mind to investigate. 

Cautiously he crawled to the door of their 
room, and, feeling about in the darkness, discov¬ 
ered that the chair he had placed against the 
portal was still in place. 

“It wasn’t in here,” he murmured. “I wonder 
if the professor is up?” He was just about to 
rouse Ned and Bob, and had in mind to call the 
scientist, when from the latter’s apartment there 
suddenly came a series of startled yells. 


66 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Ouch! Oh my! Let go! I’m bein’stabbed! 
Some beast has holt of me! Let go, consarn ye, 
or I’ll stomp on ye!” 

There was a riot of racket in the adjoining 
room. 

What s the matter?” yelled Ned, jumping up. 

Is the place on lire?” asked Bob, pressing 
the spring of a portable electric light he had with 
him, and partly illuminating the room. 

Here! Get out! What are you doing? 
Thieves! Murder! Help, boys, help!” 

“It’s the professor!” gasped Jerry. “That 
rascal is attacking him!” 

We re coming, Professor!” sung out Ned. 
He began sliding back the chair that Jerry had 
placed against the door, while Bob held the light. 

“Not that way! This!” shouted Jerry, and, 
putting his shoulder to the connecting door, he 
burst it open with a mighty shove. 

The three chums piled into the professor’s 
room, and in the light of Bob’s lamp saw a curi¬ 
ous sight. 

Dancing about in fear and pain was Mr. Buttle. 
Fast to the thumb of each hand was an enormous, 
pinching, black beetle, some of the specimens re¬ 
cently gathered by the professor. The boxes were 
scattered about the room, and the scientist with 



DANCING ABOUT IN FEAR AND PAIN WAS MR. BUTTLE. 


Motor Boys Over the Ocean 


Page 66 














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• - 













































































E - 



























A SURPRISED INTRUDER 67 

apprehension on his face was scurrying about, 
gathering up several choice insects which had been 
released by the intruder. 

“Take these beasts off me or I’ll sue ye!” cried 
Mr. Buttle. “Take ’em away ’fore they eat my 
thumbs off! Wow! Jehoshaphat, how they 
pinch!” 


CHAPTER VIII 


A DISAPPOINTMENT 

For a few moments the boys stood there al¬ 
most spellbound, gazing at the startled farmer, on 
whose face the look of pain increased. 

“How did it happen?” demanded Jerry, when 
the intruder into the professor’s room had suc¬ 
ceeded in shaking off the two beetles, and was 
looking critically at his injured thumbs. The in¬ 
sects had drawn blood. 

“I’m sure I don’t know,” answered the pro¬ 
fessor, as he made a grab for a large bug that 
was trying to get down a crack, for some of the 
scientist’s specimens were very lively. “I’m sure I 
don’t know. I was sleeping peacefully, when I 
was suddenly awakened by this man shouting.” 

“How did you come to get the beetles?” asked 
Jerry, looking severely at Mr. Buttle. 

“I didn’t git ’em, they got me,” he declared. 
“Th’ consarned critters pinch wuss than lobsters.” 

“They are a form of land lobster,” the pro- 
68 


A DISAPPOINTMENT 


69 

fessor explained as he carefully caught the two 
beetles in a box and closed the lid. “But I don’t 
see how they got out. I had the top securely 
closed.” 

“Perhaps Mr. Buttle can explain,” remarked 
Ned significantly. That individual squirmed un¬ 
easily. 

“Wa’al, I got t’ thinkin’ in th’ night, that may¬ 
be th’ professor might need a drink of water,” 
explained the farmer, “ ’count of him eatin’ so 
much ham. So I brung some water up. There’s 
the pitcher,” and he pointed to one, in proof of 
his assertion. “I knocked on th’ door,” he went 
on, “but th’ professor didn’t answer, an’ then I 
thought it’d be a pity to wake him up. So I 
thought I’d jest push th’ door open, an’ leave th’ 
water where he could git it. 

“Wa’al, I done so, an’ I were jest leavin’ when 
them two big black bugs jumped out of th’ dark¬ 
ness an’ grabbed me. Then I let out a yell.” 

“Yes, we heard you yell,” spoke Bob gently, 
and Ned felt like laughing, only the matter 
seemed to be too serious. 

“I don’t see how those horned beetles could get 
out when the boxes were tightly fastened,” ob¬ 
served the professor simply. 

“Wa’al, they got out all right, an’ they got on 


70 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

me,” went on th’ farmer. “Ef I git blood poison 
I’ll have t’ sue ye.” 

“You had no right to come in the room of Mr. 
Snodgrass without knocking, or telling him,” said 
Jerry. 

“I didn’t want to wake him up, when I brought 
in th’ water. An’ look at my door—all busted!” 
proceeded the farmer indignantly, looking at the 
portal Jerry had smashed. “Somebody’s got t’ 
pay fer that.” 

“Yes, we’ll settle,” agreed Jerry, and then, as 
if fearing he might be asked embarrassing ques¬ 
tions, Mr. Buttle suddenly departed, tramping 
indignantly down the stairs, and muttering mean¬ 
while something about “crazy automobile folks 
thet carried wild animals with ’em!” 

“Well, what do you think, fellows?” asked 
Ned, as they stood looking at each other in the 
dim illumination of the electric light Bob held. 

“It looks rather funny,” declared the stout 
youth. 

“It wouldn’t have been funny if my specimens 
had gotten away,” observed the scientist. “He 
knocked down the whole pile of boxes at my head, 
and that’s how some of them must have come 
open.” 

“No, that’s not the way,” was Jerry’s opinion. 


A DISAPPOINTMENT 71 

“I’ll tell you what I think. I believe our host is 
a dangerous character, and I think he sneaked up, 
hoping the professor had money in those boxes. 
He was going to rob him, but the beetles turned 
the trick.” 

“Do you really think so?” inquired Mr. Snod¬ 
grass. 

“I certainly do,” replied the tall lad. 

“And I agree with him,” added Ned. “I re¬ 
member now that the professor spoke of his ‘val¬ 
uables’ in the boxes, and I saw Mr. Buttle looking 
at him rather sharply. That’s just how it was. 
He thought he was going to make a good haul.” 

“It’s lucky we weren’t all murdered in our 
sleep,” exclaimed Bob, with a nervous look 
around. 

“Oh, hardly as bad as that, I think,” came 
from Jerry. “However, Mr. Buttle has had his 
lesson, and I think he won’t sneak around us 
again. He must have unlocked the professor’s 
door with a duplicate key, and when he pushed 
the chair across the floor that woke me up.” 

Jerry’s explanation was accepted, and they 
went back to bed, but it was some time before 
they got to sleep. When Jerry awoke again it 
was just getting light, and as he was as anxious 
as was Ned to be on the road again, he roused 


72 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

his companions. Professor Snodgrass was al¬ 
ready up, making a careful inspection of his spec¬ 
imen boxes by daylight, to see if any of the bugs 
had escaped. He found them all intact. 

“What shall we do; take chances on having 
breakfast with Mr. Buttle?” asked Ned, as they 
were ready to go down stairs. 

“I vote that we pay him what we owe him, and 
go on to the next town for breakfast,” spoke Ned. 
“We can put the tire on, and make good time. 
It’s stopped raining.” 

“Well, I’m pretty hungry,” remarked Bob with 
a woebegone face, “and it’s no fun putting on a 
tire without your breakfast, but I wouldn’t want 
him to poison us, and he might do it to get 
even.” 

“Then we’ll start off and hunt our own break¬ 
fast,” decided Jerry. When they went downstairs 
they found no signs of their host. Evidently he 
did not care to meet them face to face in daylight. 
So, after leaving where he would see it a sum of 
money sufficient to pay for their supper and the 
night’s lodging, and also to repair the broken 
door, our friends departed. Jerry left a note, 
stating what the money was for. 

They found their auto undisturbed, and soon 


A DISAPPOINTMENT 73 

had the tire repaired. They kept a lookout for 
the farmer, whom they believed to be a rascal, but 
saw no signs of him, and made good time to the 
next town, where they got a good breakfast at 
the hotel. There, having mentioned the fact that 
they had spent the night with Mr. Buttle, they 
were told that they had taken a big chance. 

“That fellow’s a regular hold-up man,” said 
the hotel clerk. “He makes a practice of swin¬ 
dling autoists. It’s been said that he puts tacks 
and glass in the road, so they’ll get damaged tires 
right in front of his place, and then when they 
halt to make repairs, he comes out and offers to 
sell food at about three times the market prices. 
That’s the way he makes his living, instead of 
farming it. He ‘grafts’ on the autoists.” 

“Well, he’ll be careful how he tackles this party 
another time,” remarked Jerry significantly. 

They had left bad roads behind, and now, spin¬ 
ning over hard and smooth highways, they found 
themselves, a little after nine o’clock that morn¬ 
ing, in the city of Durham. 

“Now for Mr. Jackson!” cried Ned, as they 
inquired the way to the sanitarium where the mil¬ 
lionaire operator was staying. 

Up the broad road, through the entrance gates 


74 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

went our heroes. The place was attractively laid 
out, and was quite celebrated as a health resort 
for overworked men and women of the wealthy 
and fashionable class. 

‘‘We’ll let you do the talking, at first, Profes¬ 
sor,” decided Ned, as he guided the car around 
the turns in the road. 

“Yes, I’ll be glad to meet my friend Mr. Jack- 
son again. I think—hold on just a moment, Ned. 
I think I see a rare kind of beetle.” 

The boys were in a hurry, but the memory of 
the good service the professor’s beetles had done 
the previous night made them willing to stop the 
car. Mr. Snodgrass got out, and succeeded in 
capturing a bug, the possession of which seemed 
to give him great delight. Then Ned speeded 
up the machine as the latest specimen was care¬ 
fully put away. 

They came to a halt in front of a sort of hotel- 
sanitarium, and Ned and Mr. Snodgrass went to 
the front door. 

“Well, now, I’m real sorry, but you’ve had 
your trip for nothing,” the manager informed 
them, when they had stated whom they wished to 
see. 

“Why, isn’t Mr. Jackson here?” asked Ned 
anxiously. 


A DISAPPOINTMENT 75 

“He was here, up to last night. But he went 
away suddenly, and he won’t be back.” 

Where has he gone?” asked the professor. 

“Out to the big airship and balloon meet at 
Danforth.” 

“To a balloon meet?” repeated Ned in sur¬ 
prise. 

Yes. Didn’t you know that Mr. Jackson was 
an enthusiastic balloonist and aviator?” 

“I knew he had many fads,” spoke the profes¬ 
sor, but I didn’t know he included ballooning 
among them.” 

“Oh, yes,” went on the manager. “He is much 
interested in all sorts of air craft. In fact he 
talked of nothing else while he was here. He has 
invented some sort of dirigible balloon, or aero¬ 
plane—some kind of air machine. I’m not very 
well up on them, so I can’t describe it to you. I 
believe he is going to enter it at the Danforth 
meet. I’m sorry, but you’re just too late to catch 
him.” 

“So are we,” agreed Ned sorrowfully. He 
knew his father would be much disappointed, but 
there was no help for it. Despondently the mer¬ 
chant’s son turned and followed the professor out 
of the hotel. Jerry and Bob sat in the auto wait¬ 
ing for them. 


76 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Well, what luck?” asked the tall lad, as his 
chum approached. 

“He’s just left,” answered Mr. Snodgrass. 

“Gone ballooning,” added Ned. “Out to the 
Danforth meet and that’s just outside of New 
York. We’ll never catch him, now.” 

“Yes, we will!” cried Jerry suddenly. 

“How?” 

“In our motor-ship Comet!” exclaimed the tall 
lad. “We’ll fix that up, and get right on the trail 
of Mr. Jackson again. Come on, Ned. Back 
tracks for Cresville, and then for another voy¬ 
age through the air!” 


CHAPTER IX 


GETTING EVEN 

Little time was lost starting back for Cres- 
ville. The boys hoped to be at home that night, 
and planned to at once start at work remodelling 
their airship. 

“And then we’ll go to Danforth,” decided 
Jerry. 

“Maybe we won’t be in time,” objected Ned. 
“I don’t want to miss Mr. Jackson again, if I 
can help it.” 

“Oh, that balloon and aeroplane meet will last 
for some time,” explained the tall lad. “Mr. 
Jackson is sure to be around there. We’ll land 
him this time. It won’t take long to fix up the 
Comet, if we all get to work on it.” 

“It will seem good again to go scooting through 
the air,” observed Bob. 

“Yes; no danger of killing diseased calves up 
above the clouds,” agreed Jerry, with a laugh. 

“I wonder if we’ll see anything of Mr. Sackett 
on our way back?” said Ned. 

77 


78 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Hope not,” was Bob’s comment, “though we 
will pass through Tewkesbury Township. I’ve 
seen all I want to of that swindler.” 

They stopped for dinner that day in the same 
hotel where the deputy cattle inspector had told 
them of the trick Mr. Sackett had worked on 
them, and, among the guests at the dinner table 
was the same deputy himself. 

“There’s Mr. Rider,” announced Jerry in a 
low tone to his two chums, as the waitress helped 
them to some fried chicken. The inspector caught 
his name, looked up, and saw the boys. 

“Well, if there ain’t the young fellows who go 
around buying condemned calves!” he exclaimed, 
getting up from the table to shake hands with 
them and the professor. “I’m real glad to see 
you again,” announced Mr. Rider, and he 
changed his plate over to their table, where he 
talked interestingly on many subjects. 

“Have you seen anything of Mr. Sackett 
lately?” asked Jerry with a smile, as they finished 
dinner and sat in the hotel parlor for a rest be¬ 
fore starting on again. 

“No, but I expect to soon. I’ve got to go out 
that way. The county board of health has an¬ 
other case against him, and I expect to be sent on 
it within a day or two.” 


GETTING EVEN 


79 

“What’s it about—some more condemned 
calves?” asked Ned. 

“No, it’s chickens this time. He’s got a big 
flock of what he claims are pure-blooded buff 
Cochins, but they’re not. They’re a hybrid 
strain, and what’s more they have an incurable 
disease. The trouble with Sackett is that he 
doesn’t feed his stock right, nor take any care of 
it. That’s why it’s nearly all diseased. 

“These chickens are particularly bad. They’re 
nice-looking fowls, but as soon as they get to a 
certain age they die off. There are a lot of 
chicken-raisers around Sackett’s place, and they’re 
afraid their flocks will catch the ailment. So I’ve 
been ordered to tell him to get rid of all his fowls, 
disinfect his coops, and start all over. I know 
he’ll kick like a steer, he’s so miserly, but he’ll 
have to do it.” 

“Has he got many chickens?” asked Bob. 

“About two hundred, and he values them pretty 
highly, but they’re not worth a dollar. If any 
one bought them they’d be stuck, for the fowls 
would die inside of a month.” 

The deputy inspector told the boys several 
stories about Mr. Sackett, and also regaled 
them with the news of the vicinity. Then, as they 


80 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

did not want to spend another night away from 
home, they said good-by and departed. 

Jerry was driving the car, and they were going 
along at a good clip, when there came a sudden 
snap, and something seemed to be wrong. The 
tall lad brought the machine up with a jerk, 
jumped out, and made a hasty examination. 

“One of the small springs broken!” he an¬ 
nounced ruefully. 

“Can’t it be fixed? Will we have to get out 
and walk?” asked Ned. 

“It could be repaired if we were near a black¬ 
smith shop,” answered Jerry. “It isn’t a bad 
break, and I can still go on, but not very fast, and 
it may get worse, if it isn’t repaired.” 

“I don’t see any blacksmith shop around here,” 
observed Bob. “In fact, it wasn’t far from here 
that we killed the calf, fellows.” 

“Don’t mention it!” begged Jerry. “Well, I 
guess I’ll take a chance, and go on slowly. We 
may come to a garage within a few miles, though 
I don’t remember seeing any on our other trip.” 

As they were about to proceed, they saw a 
farmer driving toward them. He halted to learn 
the trouble, and to the delight of the boys an¬ 
nounced that there was a smithy about a mile 
farther on, down a side road. 


GETTING EVEN 


81 


The blacksmith shop was soon reached, and 
while the proprietor was making the necessary re¬ 
pairs Jerry and his chums sat outside where a 
number of men were gathered, listening to their 
talk. Mr. Snodgrass, as has probably been 
guessed, was looking for bugs. 

Quite a political discussion was under way 
among the loungers about the smithy, when Ned, 
looking down the village street, saw a figure ap¬ 
proaching. There was something vaguely fa¬ 
miliar about it. The merchant’s son nudged 
Jerry. 

“Isn’t that our friend Mr. Sackett, of Tewkes¬ 
bury Township?” he asked in a low voice. 

“It sure is,” agreed the tall lad after a mo¬ 
ment’s inspection. 

“He’s coming here.” 

“Well, what of it?” 

“Shall we tackle him about that calf?” 

“By jinks! I’ve a good notion to. Wait until 
he gets here, and we’ll see if he knows us.” 

Mr. Sackett came on with a shuffling gait. He 
did not seem to observe the three boys, and they 
were thinking in what manner they could get even 
with the miser for the mean trick he had played 
on them, when the grizzled old farmer, address- 


82 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

ing one of the men outside the blacksmith shop, 
said: 

“Well, Jason Stearn, have ye made up yer mind 
t’ take my flock of buff Cochins? IVe got t’ 
know right away, fer I’ve got another offer fer 
’em, an’ I can’t wait on ye any longer. There’s 
two hundred of th’ finest hens in Tewkesbury 
Township, an’ I’m lettin’ ye have ’em at a bar¬ 
gain.” 

Jerry and his chums were all attention at this, 
and as the miserly farmer had not yet noticed 
them, Jerry pulled Ned and Bob out of sight be¬ 
hind a wagon, slipping along with them himself. 
From this vantage point they listened. 

“Do ye want ’em, Jason?” went on Mr. Sack- 
ett. 

“Wa’al, I’ve been thinkin’ of it, Eb,” drawled 
the man addressed. “I want t’ git some nice hens, 
an’ I like th’ Cochins as well as any. What’s yer 
lowest figger?” 

“One hundred an’ fifty dollars, jest as I told ye 
afore. They’re wuth two hundred ef they’re 
wuth a cent—an’ that’s only a dollar apiece— 
cheap fer buff Cochins. Ye’ll have t’ speak 
mighty soon, ef ye want ’em. I come down this 
way special t’ see ye.” 

“I’ll give ye a hundred an’ forty, Eb.” 


GETTING EVEN 83 

“All right, I’ll take ye I” exclaimed the miserly 
farmer quickly. “Cash down, mind ye.” 

“Yes, I’m willin’ t’ pay cash,” agreed Mr. 
Stearn. 

“An’ ye’ll have t’ pay suthin’ now, t’ bind the 
bargain,” went on Mr. Sackett eagerly. “Newt 
Porter an Si Granberry will be witnesses that ye 
agreed t’ take ’em.” 

“All right, Eb. Here’s ten dollars. I’ll pay 
ye th’ rest when I come fer th’ fowls.” 

Mr. Stearn was about to pass over a ten-dollar 
bill to Mr. Sackett when Jerry, with a nudge to his 
companions, stepped from behind the wagon, and 
confronted the miser. 

“Hold on a minute, Mr. Stearn,” said the tall 
lad calmly, “I wouldn’t buy those chickens, if I 
were you.” 

“Not buy those chickens? Why not?” asked 
the prospective purchaser. “They’re a good 
flock, ain’t they?” 

“No, they’re not,” put in Ned. 

“They’re diseased and will die inside of a 
month,” added Bob. 

“Say, consarn ye! Who be you fellers, any¬ 
how, puttin’ in yer oars where ye ain’t wanted, an’ 
tryin’ t’ spoil a man’s trade?” demanded Mr. 
Sackett with a snarl. 


84 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Oh, I guess you know who we are well 
enough,” spoke Jerry calmly, as he stepped into 
plainer view. “We bought a calf of you at rather 
a high price the other day, Mr. Sackett, and after¬ 
ward learned that you were ordered to kill it!” 

“Oh, them’s th’ fellers, eh?” remarked Mr. 
Stearn, while as for the miserly farmer, he started 
back in alarm at the sight of our heroes. 

“What’s that calf got t’ do with my chickens?” 
he demanded roughly. 

“A great deal,” went on Jerry still calmly. 
“Those fowls are diseased, just as the calf was, 
and you know that your chickens have been con¬ 
demned, Mr. Sackett. You’ve been ordered by 
the health department to get rid of them, and this 
is the means you take—trying to sell them to 
some one who will lose them all within a month. 

“Don’t buy those chickens, Mr. Stearn,” went 
on Jerry eagerly. “We met Mr. Rider, the 
health inspector, a little while ago, and he told us 
the whole story. It was he who told us about 
the condemned calf we accidentally killed. Mr. 
Rider will be here in a few days to see that the 
flock of Cochins are disposed of, and if you don’t 
want to throw your money away, don’t buy 
them!” 


GETTING EVEN g 5 

“That’s not so!” cried Mr. Sackett. “You’re 
tryin’t’ make trouble fer me!” 

“It is true,” declared Jerry quietly. “My two 
friends here heard the story, and so did Profes¬ 
sor Snodgrass. I’ll call the professor,” which he 
did, from down the road where the scientist was 
looking for strange insects. 

^ “ It: Is perfectly true,” declared Mr. Snodgrass, 
“and I’m glad we are in time to prevent you from 
cheating some one else, Mr. Sackett. If you sell 
those diseased chickens it will be a swindle.” 

Wa al, they ain t all sick,” asserted the farmer 
lamely, an I m willin’ t’ make a reduction, ef 
you 11 take em, Jason. I tell ye they’re fine 
fowl!” 

This was practically an admission that the 
story of our heroes was true, and Mr. Stearn felt 
it to be so. He put his money back into his 
pocket. 

“I guess we can’t do no business, Eb,” he re¬ 
marked dryly. “I’m much obliged to you young 
fellers fer warnin’ me in time. I’d a-been badly 
stuck, w T ith a lot of diseased hens on my hands. 
What do you mean by tryin’ such a trick, Eb 
Sackett?” 

“Wa’al, I didn’t know th’ hens was as bad as 



86 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


that,” was the evasive answer. “I ain’t had no 
official notice t’ that effect.” 

“You knew it well enough, though,” declared 
Jerry decisively. 

“Wa’al, consarn ye, what right have ye got t’ 
be mindin’ my business an’ that of Jason Stearn 
fer, I’d like to know?” demanded the angry miser, 
seeing his plans foiled. 

“We’ve got every honest right,” answered 
Ned. 

“Besides, you made us pay for a calf that was 
no good,” put in Bob. 

“Oh! I wish I had holt of ye out at my place 
fer about five minutes!” muttered the angry man, 
as he shook his fist at the boys, and turned away, 
followed by the laughter of the loungers, who 
were glad to see this turn to events. “I’d make 
ye smart fer this,” declared Mr. Sackett, as he 
went back the way he had come. “Spoilin’ a 
man’s business this way. Them chickens is good 
enough fer anybody!” 

“Then you keep ’em,” answered Mr. Steam, 
as he again thanked the boys for the service they 
had done him. 

“I rather guess this makes us about even on the 
calf deal,” observed Jerry grimly. 


GETTING EVEN 87 

Later they learned that Mr. Sackett tried else¬ 
where, but unsuccessfully, to dispose of his fowls, 
and finally they all died on his hands, after he 
had spent considerable for medicine to cure them. 


CHAPTER X 


REBUILDING THE COMET 

“Where’s that monkey wrench?” 

“Say, has anybody seen my ruler?” 

“Hand over that hammer, will you, Bob?” 

“Look out there, Jerry, or that piece of scant¬ 
ling will be down on your headl” 

“Give me a hand here, somebody, I can’t shift 
this exhaust pipe all alone.” 

“Hey! Don’t put your foot through those hy¬ 
droplanes, Ned. Do you want to break ’em?” 

These were only a few of the expressions, com¬ 
mands, entreaties and warnings that could be 
heard coming from the big barn, back of the 
home of Jerry Hopkins, where, a few days after 
the arrival of our heroes from their trip to Dur¬ 
ham, they began work at rebuilding the Comet . 
They had decided on making several minor 
changes to their motor-ship, in addition to equip¬ 
ping it for work on the water, and they found the 
task a little harder than anticipated. 

But they succeeded in getting the help of Mr. 


REBUILDING THE COMET 89 

Glassford, who had originally planned the Comet, 
and such assistance did he give, together with that 
of some trained mechanics whom he hired, that it 
seemed possible to make at least a trial trip in 
about another week. 

“And then we’ll sail for the balloon and aero¬ 
plane meet at Danforth,” remarked Jerry, paus¬ 
ing in the work of building the hydroplanes, for 
that was his special feature, and he wanted to 
have them just right. 

“I only hope Mr. Jackson stays there until we 
arrive,” spoke Ned. “He’s so queer that he may 
leave at any time, and then we’ll have another 
chase after him.” 

“Oh, he’ll stay until the races start at least, I 
think, fellows,” said Bob. “You know the sec¬ 
retary of the meet wrote us that Mr. Jackson was 
going to try for a prize in his new dirigible bal¬ 
loon, and he won’t go away without making a 
flight. The meet is delayed in opening, you know, 
and I think we have plenty of time.” 

“If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t have proposed going 
this way,” came from Jerry. “We could go out 
in a train or by auto, and get to him more quickly 
than by delaying to rebuild our airship. But I 
thought, as long as we did have the time we might 
just as well make an air trip.” 



po MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Sure,” agreed Ned. “Besides I think if we 
arrive at the meet in the Comet it will create 
something of a sensation, and if Mr. Jackson is 
there he’ll be more apt to think we are ‘some 
pumpkins’ than if we arrived by train or auto.” 

“Was your father much disappointed that we 
didn’t land him in Durham, and get him to sign 
the papers?” asked Bob. 

“He sure was, Chunky,” replied the merchant’s 
son. “But he knew it wasn’t our fault. He has 
great hopes from our trip to Danforth, hov^ver.” 

“Any let-up in his business troubles?” inquired 
Jerry. 

“No, they’re worse, if anything. Dad’s ene¬ 
mies are pressing him hard, but he thinks he can 
stand them off until we get to Mr. Jackson, and 
enlist his aid. It’s going to be quite a task, 
though. Poor dad! I wish I could help him!” 

“You are helping him!” insisted the fat youth, 
as he stopped to rest after carrying a brace across 
the barn to where it was to be fitted into the air¬ 
ship. “You are doing all you can, and we’re help¬ 
ing you.” 

“I realize that, and I can’t thank you fellows 
enough,” spoke Ned feelingly, for his father’s 
troubles had made quite an impression on the lad, 


REBUILDING THE COMET 91 

as, indeed, they also had on his chums, and they 
were all anxious to see them over. In fact, if they 
were not speedily remedied it meant the loss of 
Mr. Slade’s fortune, which he had made by a life¬ 
time of hard work. 

So they were anxious to have the Comet re¬ 
fitted, and start off on their trip to a point near 
New York in order to meet Mr. Jackson. They 
had learned by telegraph that the eccentric pro¬ 
moter and millionaire was expected to arrive 
any fey, and would take part in the meet. Ef¬ 
forts to intercept him en route, and get in com¬ 
munication with him, had been futile, and they 
were forced to wait. Mr. Slade grew more and 
more anxious as the days passed, but he could only 
fight off his business and financial enemies as best 
he might. 

They were busy days for the motor boys. 
Early and late they worked on the Comet . The 
main cabin was enlarged and improved. The en¬ 
gine and machinery was overhauled, and made 
more powerful. The gas-generating machine, 
which supplied the lifting vapor, that was used 
when it was not desired to operate the Comet as 
an aeroplane, was changed to allow a more pow¬ 
erful gas to be used. 


92 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Additional room for carrying provisions and 
stores was provided, and a number of comforts 
were added to the motor-ship’s equipment. 

But the hydroplane attachments were the most 
radical. As has been explained they enabled the 
airship to alight on water and float there, and 
Jerry even added an auxiliary propeller so that 
the motor-ship could travel in the water for a 
short distance. 

So that, in reality, the Comet would soon be a 
craft that could roll along the ground, on the 
bicycle or starting wheels; it could sail through 
the air, or skim on the surface of the water. 

“Well, fellows,” remarked Jerry one after¬ 
noon, when all, including Mr. Glassford and his 
helpers, had put in a hard day’s work on the craft, 
“I think we’ll have her in shape in another day. 
Then we can give her a try-out.” 

“Where?” asked Mr. Glassford. “You ought 
to test her on some water, for you are sure 
enough that the air features are all right. It’s the 
hydroplanes that need testing.” 

“That’s true,” admitted Jerry, “and I thought 
of making a trip through the air to Lake Ham¬ 
mond, and dropping down on the surface there.” 

“Good idea,” agreed Ned. 

They were about to stop, assuring themselves 


REBUILDING THE COMET 


93 

by an inspection of the craft that at least one day 
mare would put her in shape for a trial in the air 
and on water, when into the barn, that was used 
as a work-shop, there burst a small chap, with 
every appearance of great excitement oozing out 
from almost every pore in his body. 

“Jerry! Ned! Bob!” he gasped. “Come quick 
—he’s out there—stuck fast—can’t get loose— 
squirming around—down in a hole—sea-serpent 
I guess—almost dead—Oh, it’s awful—poor man 
—get a doctor—send for an ambulance—have a 
trained nurse—come on, everybody! Don’t wait 
a minute! He’ll disappear under ground! Come 
quick! Hurry! Run! Run! Come on!” 

“Well, for the love of cats, Andy Rush, what in 
the name of the sacred cow is the matter now?” 
cried Jerry, as he surveyed the excitable lad who 
had burst in on them. 

“Come on! Come on, quick!” was all the re¬ 
ply Andy made and he turned and hastened from 
the barn, followed by Ned, Bob and the others. 


CHAPTER XI 


ON THE WATER 

Hastening as rapidly as they could after the 
excitable lad, our three heroes, with Mr. Glass- 
ford and his men turned the corner of the barn, 
and were soon in the fields back of Jerry’s house. 

“Where are you taking us, Andy?” cried Ned. 

“Yes, what’s the trouble, anyhow?” demanded 
Jerry. 

“Let—up—I’m—winded!” panted the fat 
Bob. 

“Come on—he’s right near, now—Oh, I hope 
we’re in time—run!” 

That was all the answer Andy Rush gave, but 
it was sufficient, for a few seconds later they came 
in sight of the cause of his excitement. 

A man was lying prone on the grass of the 
meadow near the edge of a small brook. He was 
stretched out at full length and one arm and hand 
seemed to be in a deep hole. 

“Why, it’s Professor Snodgrass!” exclaimed 
Ned, as he recognized the scientist. 

94 


ON THE WATER 


95 

“I told you—that’s him—caught in a hole— 
help him out—send for a doctor!” spluttered 
Andy, dancing around first on one leg and then 
on the other. 

“Be quiet; can’t you?” pleaded Jerry. 

“Sure I can. But I saw him—I ran for help— 
I knew something was the matter—he called to 
me as I was passing through the field—he’s going 
to die, I guess!” 

“Oh, guess again!” cried Ned, for Andy’s ex¬ 
citable nature was getting on the nerves of them 
all. 

Jerry ran to where Professor Snodgrass was 
lying face down in the grass. There was a look 
of mild wonder on the countenance of the scien¬ 
tist. 

“What’s the matter?” asked the tall lad. 
“Are you sick, Mr. Snodgrass?” 

“Sick? No, Jerry. But I’m in trouble.” 

“Trouble? What is it?” asked Mr. Glassford 
solicitously. “Can we help you? You seem to be 
caught in the hole.” 

“No, I have caught something in the hole, to 
be more correct,” spoke the professor calmly. 
“Only he won’t let go, and I can’t pull him out, 
or get my hand loose.” 

“What is it?” asked Ned. 


9 6 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“A large mud turtle of a very rare variety,” 
was the reply. “I was walking along, looking 
for specimens, and I saw this one crawling on the 
bank of the brook. I made a grab for him, just 
as he was sliding into a muskrat’s hole, and got 
him by the tail. However, he managed to get 
into the opening a little way, and as my hand 
kept slipping from his tail, I had to reach farther 
and farther in, until my whole arm, up to the 
shoulder, is down the hole, as you can see.” 

“Well, why don’t you pull your arm up?” 
asked one of Mr. Glassford’s helpers. 

“I can’t,” replied the professor simply. “You 
see the turtle has hold of my hand, and won’t let 
go.” 

“How can he have hold of your hand, when 
you have him by the tail?” asked Jerry. 

“Oh, I haven’t got hold of his tail now,” ex¬ 
plained Mr. Snodgrass, as if it was the most sim¬ 
ple thing in the world. “You see after he got 
down the hole he pulled loose his tail from my 
grasp, turned around, and before I knew it he 
had my hand in his mouth. That’s why I can’t 
pull my arm up. I have to lie here. In fact, I’ve 
been here some time, and when I saw this young 
man passing by I asked him to go for help,” and 
the professor indicated Andy. 


ON THE WATER 


97 

“And I went—I ran—I jumped!’’ exclaimed 
the small chap. “I told the news—I brought help 
—I-” 

“That’ll do, Andy,” said Ned gently, and the 
excitable lad subsided. 

“We’ll soon help you!” said Mr. Glassford to 
the scientist. “Here,” he called to his two as¬ 
sistants. “Get some sticks, dig down through the 
earth to where the turtle has hold of this gentle¬ 
man, and kill it.” 

“Oh, no! Don’t, I beg of you! Not for 
worlds! Don’t kill it!” cried the professor. “It 
is a very valuable specimen, and I may never be 
able to get another like it.” 

“But it is biting your hand!” cried Jerry. 

“You may get blood poison,” added Ned. 

“Oh, I have a heavy glove on,” explained the 
scientist, “and he can’t hurt me. But I wish you 
would dig him out, and then I could get him. 
But don’t hurt him. He’ll hold on until then, I 
guess, and really I don’t mind it a bit.” 

“But you’ll get tired lying there,” objected 
Bob. 

“Oh, no,” declared the professor simply. “I 
would be willing to lie here all night this way, 
for the sake of getting such a fine specimen.” 

There was no getting him to change his mind, 



98 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

or slip off his glove, and let the turtle go. So 
shovels were sent for, and, after some work, the 
hole was made larger, until the professor was able 
to put in his other arm and pull out the turtle. 

“Oh, you little beauty!” he exclaimed, as he 
held up the wiggling reptile. “You are indeed 
valuable! Why that specimen is worth at least 
fifty dollars!” he said. 

I know a pond full of ’em, and I’ll give you 
all you want for a quarter,” said one of Mr. 
Glassford’s men. 

“Not this kind,” asserted the professor 
proudly, as he bore off his prize. 

“Will you give me a ride in the airship, for 
bringing you news of the professor?” asked Andy, 
as he walked back with the boys. He had calmed 
down somewhat. 

“Sure we will,” agreed Jerry. “You can come 
on the trial trip we’re going to take to-morrow or 
next day—if you promise not to yell in case we 
fall.” 

“All right—I promise,” said Andy, after think¬ 
ing it over. 

Uriah Snodgrass, who was stopping at Jerry’s 
house pending the start for Danforth, suffered 
no ill effects from his experience with the turtle, 


ON THE WATER 


99 

and the next day was hunting new specimens with 
as much energy as before. He was anxious to 
get started on his quest for the singing fish, but, in 
the meanwhile, occupied himself as best he could. 

It was found impossible to get the Comet in 
readiness for a trial the next day, but on the fol¬ 
lowing one, when the last adjustments had been 
made to the machinery, Jerry decided that it 
would be safe to risk a flight. Mr. Glassford and 
his men had completed their work, and departed, 
and our three heroes, together with Andy Rush 
and Professor Snodgrass, made up the party that 
entered the cabin of the motor-ship after it was 
wheeled out of the barn. 

The hydroplanes which were on toggle-joint 
arms had been lifted up off the ground, and could 
be let down when it was desired to float on water. 

“I think we’ll go up by means of the gas bag, 
and not use the aeroplane wings now,” decided 
Jerry. “We haven’t room enough to get a good 
start, now that the Comet is larger than she was 
formerly.” 

Accordingly the vapor machine was set in oper¬ 
ation, and soon a hissing announced that the gas 
was entering the big bag that formed the super¬ 
structure of the Comet . Some of the boys’ 


100 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


friends had gathered to see them off, and Mr. 
Slade was present, for he was vitally interested in 
the success of the remodelled motor-ship. 

“How’s the pressure?” called Jerry to Ned, 
who was in the engine room, while the tall lad 
took his place in the steering house. 

“About five hundred pounds,” was the reply. 

“That’s enough. We’re ready to go up. 
Andy, you help Bob cast off the anchor ropes. 
Professor-” 

“Oh, there’s no use asking him to do anything,” 
spoke Bob in a low voice to his chum. “He’s just 
seen a new kind of a bug crawling around on 
deck, and he’s after it on his hands and knees.” 

“All right, I guess we won’t disturb him then,” 
decided the tall lad. “We can manage. Get 
ready to cast off, Chunky.” 

A little more gas was allowed to go into the 
bag. The motor-ship was pulling and tugging at 
the anchor ropes, as if eager to be free to rise in 
the air. 

“Let her go!” suddenly called Jerry. 

Bob and Andy released the ropes, and the 
Comet shot up with the swiftness of a rocket. 

“Say, she’s got more speed than she used to 
have,” exclaimed Ned from the engine-room, as 
he adjusted levers and gear wheels. 



ON THE WATER 


IOI 


“I thought the new gas machine would do the 
trick,” said Jerry rather proudly. 

He started the big propellers, and soon the 
motor-ship, instead of shooting straight up, like a 
balloon, darted forward, like an aeroplane. 
Faster and faster she went, until the cheers of the 
little crowd below could be no longer heard. 

“Where are you heading?” asked Bob, as, fol¬ 
lowed by Andy Rush, he entered the steering 
house, where Jerry was busy with various levers, 
handles and valve wheels. 

“Straight for Lake Hammond,” was the an¬ 
swer. “We’ll be there in half an hour, and then 
we can see how the hydroplanes work.” 

The Comet was not pushed to her full speed, as 
some of the machinery was new, and the boys 
wanted to see how it would work. They found 
that it was doing satisfactorily, however, and the 
various new appliances they had added were very 
successful. 

They were flying along at a moderate height, 
looking for a sight of Lake Hammond, a large 
body of water about twenty miles from Cresville. 
Bob, Ned and Jerry found plenty to do, but Andy 
Rush was as good as his name, rushing here and 
there, exclaiming in delight at the scenery that 
seemed to be slipping along beneath him. 


102 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“It’s great—marvellous—wonderful!” he ex¬ 
ploded. 

“Remember what I told you,” cautioned Jerry. 

“What’s that?” 

“You’re not to yell if we fall.” 

“All right—I won’t.” 

The speed of the motor-ship was now in¬ 
creased, and she was skimming along through the 
air, almost up to the limit of her previous record 
before the changes were made. Jerry knew, how¬ 
ever, that she could go much faster when urged. 

In a few minutes Andy, who was looking from 
one of the forward windows, cried out: 

“I see the lake! There she is!” 

Jerry, who had set the automatic steering ap¬ 
paratus, and who had left the wheel, hastened 
forward. 

“Yes, there’s Lake Hammond,” he agreed. 
“We’ll be floating on the surface in a few min¬ 
utes if all goes well. Slow down, Ned.” 

They were all soon busy over the machinery, 
and when the craft had been brought to slower 
speed they glanced down, and saw the shining 
waters of the lake below them. Several rowboats 
and motor craft were on it, and in the distance 
was a yacht. 


ON THE WATER 


103 


“Are you all ready for the trial?” called Jerry, 
with his hand on the lever that would let out the 
gas, and cause a descent. 

“All ready,” answered Ned, and his voice was 
a trifle solemn. Suppose the hydroplanes should 
not work? 

“Here we go then!” announced the tall lad. 
He yanked the lever toward him. There was a 
hissing sound, and the Comet, whose propellers 
had ceased revolving, shot downward. 

With a quick motion Jerry straightened out 
the toggle-jointed arms that held the hydroplanes. 
They slipped into place, as the bicycle wheels 
moved out of the way. 

A few seconds later the Comet, with a little 
splash, had settled down upon the surface of the 
lake as gracefully as a wild swan, and floated 
as gently and as lightly as a cork. 

“Hurrah!” cried Jerry. “She floats! She 
floats!” 

“Will she move?” asked Bob. 

“We’ll soon see,” and Jerry started the water 
propeller: 

Slowly at first, and then gathering speed, the 
motor-ship adapted herself to the watery element 
as well as she had to the earth or air. 


104 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Success! Success!” murmured Ned, while 
from the motor-boats on the lake came shrill whis¬ 
tles of greeting to the new and strange craft that 
had so unexpectedly appeared among them. 


CHAPTER XII 


IN PERIL 

“Say, isn’t this great?” demanded Jerry of his 
companions, as he stood in the steering house, and 
directed the course of the Comet on the lake. “I 
guess now you agree with me, don’t you, Bob, 
that the hydroplanes are all right?” 

“Yes, they are,” admitted the stout lad. “I 
didn’t think they’d work so well.” 

“Me, either,” spoke Ned. “They’ll be all right 
in case we have to go over some part of the ocean, 
or a large body of water, and something happens 
so that we have to descend.” 

“I hope we will very soon be over the ocean,” 
remarked Mr. Snodgrass earnestly, as he came 
forward, holding in his hand a little bug, of which 
he seemed to take great care. He had been so 
interested in its capture that he had taken little 
notice of the landing on the lake. 

“We’ll try a flight over the water, perhaps a 
trip out to sea for a few miles, and back again,” 

105 


106 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

said Jerry. “Now that it works all right, I’m 
not afraid to go anywhere in the Comet” 

“But first we go to Danforth,” said Ned. 

“Of course, to see Mr. Jackson. There’s no 
reason why we can’t start to-morrow or the next 
day,” said the tall lad. 

“We can’t get the grub and other things on 
board in that time,” objected Bob. 

“Yes, we can, if we leave the eating part to 
you,” declared Ned. “You’ll see that there’s 
plenty of canned chicken and stuff like that, and 
Jerry and I can hustle in the stores, gasolene and 
supplies. Maybe we could start to-morrow, fel¬ 
lows.” 

“I’ll do my share,” agreed the fat lad. 

“It’s rather too short notice,” objected Jerry. 
“But we can start in two or three days. I’ll have 
to make a few little changes in the machinery, 
and we’ll be all right then.” 

“All I care about is getting the singing fish,” 
spoke Professor Snodgrass, scanning the surface 
of the lake as if he might sight a specimen there. 

The Comet was moving slowly over the water. 
It was not built for very great speed in that 
element, being designed for use in the air, but it 
made fairly good progress. By using the air pro¬ 
pellers it could be made to go much faster, and 


IN PERIL 


107 

they would be put into operation when it was de¬ 
signed to get a flying start so that the wing planes 
would lift the craft up. 

But now only the water propeller was being 
used, and as the Comet glided along she was soon 
surrounded by many other craft, the occupants of 
which wanted to know what kind of a boat the 
boys had. 

Their curiosity was satisfied in a measure, and 
one enthusiastic motor-boat owner wanted to race. 

“I’m afraid we’re not in your class,” objected 
Jerry. “If you wait a few minutes, though, we’ll 
make an ascension, and then we’ll accept the chal¬ 
lenge.” 

“I’m afraid / wouldn’t be in it then,” an¬ 
swered the motor-boat man with a laugh. “But 
you sure have a great craft there.” 

“We’ll try the air propellers now,” went on 
Jerry, “and see if we can get up speed enough to 
rise into the air without using the gas bag. 
That’s a point of which I am still in doubt.” 

“Supposing we don’t rise?” asked Bob. 

“Oh, well, then we can force gas into the bag. 
But I’d like to try the wings now, and see how 
they work since we changed the shape and the 
angle of inclination.” 

“Go ahead,” called Ned, and he and Bob 




io8 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


helped Jerry to get the machinery ready for the 
new test. The water propeller was stopped, and 
soon the air ones were whirring around like blurs 
of light. 

“Clear the way!” yelled Jerry to a little flotilla 
of rowing and motor craft that were in the path 
he proposed to take in skimming over the surface 
of the water. “Clear the way, or we may run you 
down!” 

The boats made haste to pull to one side or the 
other, leaving a lane along which the Comet could 
dash before mounting up into the air. 

Faster and faster went the propellers. The 
motor-ship gathered way. It was sliding over the 
surface now on the hydroplanes, which were like 
little boats, or the runners of an ice yacht. More 
and more speed did the Comet develop. 

“I guess sheTl do it,” murmured Jerry. “I’ll 
tilt the elevation rudder in a few seconds and then 
—well, we’ll see what will happen.” 

He looked ahead over the water course. The 
craft was making considerable progress then, in a 
straight line. Jerry reached for the lever that 
controlled the rudder which would send them 
aloft. He glanced at the speed register and noted 
that they had not yet reached sufficient mo¬ 
mentum. 


IN PERIL 


109 


Suddenly, from the lee of a large sailing yacht 
that had come to anchor out of the path of the 
Comet to watch the test, there shot a rowboat con¬ 
taining a girl and a lady. Right in the path of the 
oncoming motor-ship was the small boat. 

“Look out!” yelled Jerry through a mega¬ 
phone. 

“Pull to one side,” added Ned, though they 
could not hear his voice above the noise of the en¬ 
gine. 

“Row out! Row to one side!” cried Jerry 
again. “We’ll run you down! We can’t steer to 
the right or left without capsizing!” 

This was true, for to swerve the motor-ship 
off a straight course at the speed at which she was 
going would have meant disaster. 

“Look out! Look out!” yelled Jerry des¬ 
perately, waving his arms in warning. The sail¬ 
ors on the yacht now added their voices to those 
aboard the Comet, and the woman and girl be¬ 
came confused. Each one had an oar, and they 
were not pulling together. 

All at once the girl lost her blade overboard, 
and the lady, pulling on hers, sent the rowboat 
about in a circle. Around it spun, right in the 
path of the oncoming Comet. 

“Slow up! Go to the left—no the right—back 


no MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


up—we’ll be killed—they’ll be killed—jump over 
them—up in the air—do something!” yelled 
Andy Rush. 

‘‘Quiet!” shouted Jerry. He saw that it would 
be useless to call further to the occupants of the 
rowboat. They were helpless. Nor did it seem 
possible to stop the Comet in time, though Jerry 
had his hand on the reverse lever. Even at slack¬ 
ened speed, if they hit the small boat, they would 
upset it, either killing the occupants or throwing 
them into the water. And there was grave dan¬ 
ger to the comparatively frail Comet, in the 
event of a collision. 


CHAPTER XIII 


OFF TO THE MEET 

Jerry Hopkins made up his mind that there 
was but one thing to do. It was utterly out of 
the question to stop in time now, or to swerve 
from the direct path, in which was the small boat. 

“We’ve got to jump over them!” murmured 
the tall lad to himself. “We’ve hardly speed 
enough to rise, yet I’ve got to chance it. If I 
don’t-” 

He dared not think of the alternative. With a 
quick motion he threw the lever of the motor 
over as far as it would go. It meant full speed 
ahead, and with a rush and a roar, a rumbling 
and trembling, the powerful machine took up the 
extra fuel that was thrown into it. 

“It’s now or never!” murmured the steersman, 
while the occupants of the motor-ship gazed 
ahead with fear-filled eyes. In the small boat 
crouched the woman and girl, while on board the 
sailing yacht a man was vainly reaching out with 


hi 



112 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

a landing hook, endeavoring to pull the little craft 
out of danger. 

“Now!” suddenly shouted Jerry as if he was 
calling to some one, and he yanked the elevation 
rudder lever toward him. 

Like a thing alive the Comet seemed to lift her¬ 
self from the surface of the water. The front end 
was elevated, the forward hydroplanes emerg¬ 
ing dripping from the liquid element. Now they 
were almost over the rowboat, in the bottom of 
which, clinging to each other in terror, were the 
two trembling occupants. 

Would the rear end of the airship—the big 
after-hydroplanes clear them; or would they dash 
them to death? 

This was the question that every one on board 
the Comet was asking himself, Jerry most anx¬ 
iously of all, for it was his desperate plan that 
was being tried. Yet there was no other way. 

With a whizzing and a rushing sound the 
motor-ship lifted herself from the lake. Upward 
and upward she mounted, the rear hydroplanes 
being now clear of the water. In another mo¬ 
ment the airship passed over the heads of those 
in the rowboat, clearing them by about five feet, 
as Jerry and his chums learned afterward. They 
could not see what took place below them and di- 


OFF TO THE MEET 


1 13 

rectly in the rear, but when they were well up in 
the air, by looking back, they could see the woman 
and the girl in the boat, unharmed. There was a 
prayer of thankfulness in every heart. 

“Whew!” exclaimed Jerry, as he wiped the 
perspiration from his forehead, and slowed down 
the speed of the motor. “I wouldn’t go through 
such an experience again for a million dollars.” 

“Me either,” chimed in Ned. “I thought they 
were goners, as well as ourselves.” 

“It was a narrow squeak,” added Bob. “They 
came out directly in our path.” 

“Well, they didn’t mean to,” suggested the tall 
lad. “I guess they were as badly frightened as 
we were. But the Comet did herself proud on 
this occasion.” 

‘ f And you handled your craft most excellently,” 
complimented Professor Snodgrass, who, during 
the recent excitement, had remained a mute spec¬ 
tator. “I never saw better nerve displayed, Jerry, 
my boy.” 

“Oh, well, it was the only thing to do,” was 
the modest answer. “I guess we’ll head for home 
now, and get a nerve-bracer in the shape of some 
ice-cream soda, or something like that; eh, fel¬ 
lows?” 

“Sure,” agreed Bob and Ned. 


114 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Wow! Nothing like it—scoot along—over 
the water—up in the air—jump over their heads 
—down again—sail along— r turn a somersault— 
rush at ’em—scare ’em to death—whoop-de¬ 
doodle do! Wow!” Andy Rush was fairly quiv¬ 
ering with poorly-repressed excitement. 

They reached Cresville without further inci¬ 
dent, made a good landing, and received the con¬ 
gratulation of many friends who gathered around 
the barn on Jerry’s premises, as soon as it was 
learned that the Comet had returned. 

“Did it work all right?” Mr. Slade was anx¬ 
ious to know. 

“Couldn’t be better, dad,” replied his son. 

“Then are you soon going—” The merchant 
did not finish, but they knew what he meant. 

Mr. Slade was exceedingly anxious to get into 
communication with Mr. Jackson, and his son, 
seeing a worried look on his parent’s face, asked: 

“Are things any worse, dad?” 

“Well, they’re no better,” was the reply, “and 
I fear there is some new move afoot on the part 
of those who are trying to ruin me. If I don’t get 
help soon it will be too late.” 

“We’ll leave for Danforth day after to-mor¬ 
row,” decided Jerry on hearing this. 

“Can we be ready in time?” asked Ned. 


OFF TO THE MEET 115 

“We’ll have to,” was the grim retort. “I’ll let 
you and Bob attend to the storing of the provi¬ 
sions and supplies, and I’ll tinker with the ma¬ 
chinery. We can do it if we hustle, and hustle 
we will. Meanwhile you might send a telegram 
to the authorities of the meet, asking if Mr. Jack- 
son has arrived yet, and if he has, request them 
to tell him to wait until we get there, as we have 
an important message for him.” 

Ned did this, and received a reply to the effect 
that Mr. Jackson had not yet arrived. It was 
stated, however, that his dirigible balloon was on 
the ground, and that his employees were getting 
it in shape for a flight on the opening day of the 
aeroplane carnival, which was four days off. 

“Oh, then we’ll be in plenty of time,” declared 
Jerry. “There is always some delay in these af¬ 
fairs, and, once we get started in the Comet we 
can make all kinds of fast time. You needn’t 
worry about it, Mr. Slade.” 

But the merchant could not help worrying, for 
his business affairs were in dire straits. 

The adjusting of the machinery, and the fitting 
out of the motor-ship for the coming voyage, pro¬ 
ceeded rapidly. Bob, to whom was left the pur¬ 
chasing of the provisions, was in his element. 

The last work had been done, the last box put 


n6 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

aboard, and the final adjustment made to the 
machinery. The Comet was ready to leave. 

Early in the morning, before a crowd of curi¬ 
osity-seekers had had time to gather, our heroes 
and Professor Snodgrass entered the cabin. The 
parents of the boys were there to say good-bye. 

“All ready?” called Jerry to his chums. 

“All ready,” came the answer. 

There was a hissing sound as the gas rushed 
into the big bag, a straining of the holding ropes, 
and then, as they were cast off, the motor-ship rose 
into the air. Jerry started the propellers. 

“Off at last!” exclaimed Ned, waving his hand 
to his father. 

“And may we be successful!” murmured Jerry. 

A small figure dashed up the street. Off came 
a hat which was waved in the air. Then came a 
shrill cheer. 

“There they go! Off in the air—rush along— 
never say die—blow up—no matter—on again— 
that’s the stuff! Good luck! Good-bye!” 

“No need to look to see who that is,” re¬ 
marked Jerry, as he put on a little more speed, 
and the Comet pointed her sharp nose toward the 
place of the balloon meet, where our friends 
hoped to get the aid of the man who could save 
Mr. Slade from ruin. 


CHAPTER XIV 


A PRECARIOUS POSITION 

Airship travel was scarcely a novelty to our 
heroes now, but, like many other things, there was 
always some new feature to it. Just as on an auto 
trip you never can tell what is going to happen, 
and just as two auto trips are never the same, so 
with travel in a motor-ship. 

“We may start off all right, and we may get 
there all right,” said Jerry, “but you never can 
tell what is going to happen in the meanwhile.” 

The start of our friends was auspicious enough. 
Rising high above the country surrounding their 
home town, they soon found themselves in a fa¬ 
vorable current, and then, allowing some of the 
gas to flow out of the bag, and into the compres¬ 
sion container, Jerry speeded up the propellers 
so that the Comet was sailing along now as a reg¬ 
ular aeroplane, depending on her forward mo¬ 
tion and on the pressure of air on the surfaces of 
the wing planes for support. 

“We want to get used to travelling both ways,” 
ii 7 


Ii8 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


remarked Jerry to his chums, “for it will be wise 
to save our gas for emergencies. Anyhow the 
Comet is as good an aeroplane as she is a diri¬ 
gible balloon, and we can go faster in the former 
shape, as there is not so much air resistance when 
the gas bag is not fully inflated.” 

There were many small tasks to do after they 
had gotten well under way, and the better part 
of the morning was taken up in performing them. 
Jerry looked to the machinery, which, in spite of 
several adjustments, needed some attention. Bob 
saw to it that his provisions were all in place, and 
Ned checked over his stores, to make sure he had 
forgotten nothing. 

As for Uriah Snodgrass, it mattered little to 
him where he was, whether in the air, or on the 
earth or water, save that in the air there were 
not so many chances of gathering specimens. 
However, when he could not capture bugs he 
could look over those already in his specimen 
boxes, arrange and classify them, and jot down 
notes concerning them. It was this latter work 
which now occupied him. 

“Where is Mr. Snodgrass?” asked Ned when 
Bob, after a time spent in the kitchen, announced 
supper. 


A PRECARIOUS POSITION 


119 

“He was in the main cabin a few minutes ago, 
writing in his note-book,” said Jerry. “I saw 
him as I passed through.” 

A glance into the cabin showed that the pro¬ 
fessor was not there. 

“Perhaps he’s already eating, in the dining¬ 
room,” remarked Bob. “He might have gotten 
hungry, and couldn’t wait.” 

“Oh, I guess he’s not like you,” retorted Ned. 
Still he looked into the cabin where the table was 
set, but no scientist appeared. The motor room 
was equally unproductive, and the boys now 
looked anxiously at one another. 

“Can he have fallen overboard?” asked Bob, 
his voice trembling with apprehension. 

“We’d have heard him cry if he fell,” said 
Jerry. Still, he went to the rail and looked down. 
They were passing over a broad stretch of 
meadow land, and there was no evidence that 
their friend had tumbled down. 

“The storeroom,” suggested Ned. They hur¬ 
ried there, but found no professor! 

Suddenly Bob, who had gone out on the after 
deck, uttered a cry of alarm. His companions 
hastened toward him, and looked to where he 
pointed. 


120 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

There, lying face downward on the projecting 
stern of the motor-ship, his head and shoulders 
out of sight, was the missing professor, in a most 
precarious position! 


CHAPTER XV 


BOMBARDED WITH ROCKETS 

“Grab his legs!” cried Jerry. “I’ll take one, 
and you the other,‘Ned! Bob, you stand by to 
help! He’s almost overboard!” 

“Hadn’t you better slow up the engine?” asked 
Ned. 

“No, we’ve only got headway enough on now 
to keep us afloat! No time to slow up!” 

“Then go down!” advised Bob. “He won’t 
fall so far.” 

“No, we’ve got to pull him back right away!” 
declared the tall lad. “Come on now. He must 
have fainted, and has very nearly fallen off. 
Grab his legs! Quick!” 

Cautiously the three lads advanced toward the 
edge of the platform, over which the professor’s 
head and shoulders were hanging. 

Jerry made a grab for the left leg, Ned for the 
right, while the stout lad stood ready to lend 
whatever assistance might be needed. 

No sooner, however, had Ned and Jerry gotten 


121 


122 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


a good hold, and were about to haul in, than the 
professor, with a combination wiggle and squirm 
turned over, hitched himself along the deck, sat 
upright and yelled: 

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! Oh, you little 
beauty! Oh, you prize! I thought you’d never 
come near enough but you did, and now you’re 
mine!” 

Over his head he swung his large butterfly net, 
with a long handle, and before the astonished 
boys could ask what was the meaning of his con¬ 
duct, the scientist gathered into a small space in a 
pocket in the bottom of the net, a tiny insect, 
something like a dragon-fly. Then, having in¬ 
sured the safety of his specimen, Mr. Snodgrass 
looked calmly at the boys who stood regarding 
him with amazement and fear mingled on their 
faces. 

“Well, I got it,” said the scientist coolly. 

“Got what?” asked Jerry, a little provoked at 
the scare they had received. 

“This high-flying June bug. That’s not the 
scientific name for it, but the Latin one is so long 
you wouldn’t understand it. I’ve got him!” and 
the professor eagerly peered at his prize. 

“We thought we had lost you,” spoke Ned 
significantly. 


BOMBARDED WITH ROCKETS 123 

“Lost me—how?” 

“Why, when we saw you lying over the edge of 
the deck we were afraid you had nearly fallen 
overboard.” 

“I’m sorry you had such a scare on my ac¬ 
count,” remarked the professor more soberly. 
“You see I had no idea that I was causing you 
worry. I was sitting on the back of the airship, 
wishing I could catch some specimen, when I 
heard a buzzing sound. I looked, and there, fol¬ 
lowing us was one of these rare insects. 

“I at once got my longest-handled net, but when 
I tried to catch the little beauty it dodged me. 
Finally it went down just below us, and the only 
way I could reach it was to lie on my face, reach 
out and down as far as I could, and swoop for it.” 

“A mighty risky thing to do,” commented 
Jerry, for in some matters the professor was like 
a child. 

“I know it,” the scientist agreed cheerfully. 
“Once I thought sure I was going to fall.” 

“How did it make you feel?” asked Bob, curi¬ 
ous to know. 

“Well, all I remember thinking is that the high- 
flying June bug would get away, or that some 
other scientist would capture him. Then I man¬ 
aged to get it in my net, and just at that moment 


124 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

you boys came along, and grabbed me by the 
legs.” 

“Well, please don’t do it again,” begged Jerry, 
trying not to smile. 

“I won’t,” promised the professor. 

“Supper’s getting cold,” observed Bob rue¬ 
fully. “Come on, I’m hungry!” 

“Same old tune!” mocked Jerry, and there was 
a laugh that somewhat relieved the strain under 
which they were. 

The professor did not seem to think he had 
taken any unusual risk, and he was so overjoyed 
at the capture of the rare insect, which was worth 
at least seventy-five dollars, according to his es¬ 
timate, that the boys did not have the heart to 
speak of the great fright he had caused them. 

After supper, when several matters had been 
looked to, the lamps were lighted, and the great 
search-lantern gotten in readiness. Soon its pow¬ 
erful glow was cutting the gathering darkness as 
the big airship glided forward through space. 

“Well, morning will see us within a few miles 
of our destination,” remarked Jerry, as he and 
his chums sat about the table in the main cabin. 
“Then we can make a quick run out to the avia¬ 
tion grounds, have a talk with Mr. Jackson, if 


BOMBARDED WITH ROCKETS 125 

he’s there, and if not we’ll wait for him. Then, 
after we’ve seen him, we’ll-” 

“Start for the ocean, I hope,” put in the pro¬ 
fessor, who was busy jotting notes down in his 
books. U I am very anxious to get after the sing¬ 
ing fish.” 

“Yes, I think we’ll chance an ocean trip,” 
agreed Jerry. “But I guess I’d better go now and 
see how nearly we are keeping on our course,” 
he added, for he had set the automatic steering 
apparatus, and, as they were flying rather low, he 
did not dare trust altogether to it, without an oc¬ 
casional adjustment. 

He found, however, that they were within a 
point and a half of the way in which the nose 
of the craft should have been pointed, and, after 
correcting the error, which was caused by the lack 
of smoothness of the new machinery, Jerry was 
about to return to the cabin where the others 
were. 

As he turned to leave the motor room, he noted 
that the height gauge indicated less than a quarter 
of a mile. 

“It’s pretty low,” mused the youth, “but I 
guess we won’t hit anything. To get higher I’ve 
got to increase the speed, and I don’t want to do 



126 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

that and strain the machinery. I guess this will 
do. In the morning-” 

Jerry paused in the midst of his sentence. 
From somewhere outside there came a rushing, 
roaring sound, followed by a loud explosion. 

“The gas bag!” was the first thought of the 
tall lad. “It’s burst!” 

“What’s the matter?” he heard Ned and Bob 
crying from the cabin. 

Jerry rushed out on deck, and, as he emerged 
a glare of light caught his eye. A fear of fire en¬ 
tered his mind, but, as he watched it, the glow 
seemed to die away. Not before, however, Jerry 
had noted that the gas bag, which was partly 
inflated, was intact. Nothing had happened to it. 

“What was that?” demanded Ned, emerging 
from the main cabin, followed by Bob and the 
professor. 

“Just what I’m trying to discover,” replied the 
widow’s son. “It sounded like-” 

“There it goes again!” yelled Bob, as, with a 
whizz and a roar, a streak of fire passed by the 
airship, and burst into balls of vari-colored light 
just beyond the craft. 

“Meteors!” shouted Ned. 

“Falling stars, perhaps,” agreed the professor. 




BOMBARDED WITH ROCKETS 127 

Jerry looked down, over the edge of the rail. 
Below him there was a great illumination. 

“Look!” he cried to his companions. “We’re 
over some city.” 

“And they’re having a celebration,” added 
Ned. 

“And bombarding us with rockets,” came from 
Bob. “Look out, here comes a sheaf of them,” 
and, as he spoke, from somewhere down below 
on the earth there shot upward a fiery volcano of 
pyrotechnics, that seemed to be aimed directly at 
the motor-ship. 

“They are shooting at us!” cried Jerry. 
“Quick! Out with the lights, or they’ll set us on 
fire! Douse every glim!” 

He rushed for the electric switches, followed 
by his companions, while the Comet forged slowly 
ahead through the rain of fire, the sparks from 
the rockets shooting all about her. 


CHAPTER XVI 


AN ANGRY FARMER 

With a suddenness that was almost startling 
the incandescent lights on the Comet went out. 
The airship shot forward through the darkness 
shrouded in gloom—no, not completely, for the 
great search light still glowed, and that offered 
a mark for the hissing rockets and aerial bombs. 

“Quick! Out with the search lantern!” yelled 
Jerry. “You put that out, Bob, while Ned and I 
get to work on the engine and send the ship up. 
Start the gas machine, Ned!” 

“Will it be safe, with all this fire around us? 
It might explode.” 

“That’s so. We’ll have to depend on the 
planes to take us higher. I’ll speed up the 
motor!” 

“But why in the world are they firing at us?” 
cried Ned. ‘Hurry, Chunky, haven’t you got 
that search light out yet? They can see to aim 
at us as long as it’s going.” 

128 


AN ANGRY FARMER 129 

“I can’t seem to shut it off!” cried the stout 
youth. “The lever is jammed.” 

“Give him a hand, Ned,” called the tall lad. 
“I can manage the motor all right.” 

“Look!” suddenly cried Ned, pointing to the 
rear as he and his chum managed to put out the 
light. “There is another airship following us!” 

They all glanced to where he pointed. In the 
darkness they could see a long, illuminated shape 
whizzing swiftly through the air. 

“It’s some sort of an aerial craft, all 
right,” murmured Jerry. “I wonder if Noddy 
Nixon-?” 

“See! They’re firing rockets at her now,” 
yelled Bob. “Say, the people down below must 
have some big objection to airships. First they 
fire at us, and then at the next aeroplane that 
comes along.” 

Jerry, who had set the motor at higher speed 
to take them out of the zone of rockets, uttered 
an exclamation. 

“I have it!” he cried. “I see through it now.” 

“What is it?” asked Ned. 

“They took us for part of the illumination,” 
went on the tall lad. “They fired at us to see if 
they could hit us, and-” 

“They’ve hit that other airship!” shouted Bob, 




130 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

pointing to it. “See! They’ve set it on fire! Oh, 
what an awful death those poor fellows aboard it 
will have!” 

“Let’s save them!” suggested the professor. 

“There’s no one aboard her,” put in Jerry 
more calmly than any of the others. 

“No one aboard her? Do you mean she’s a 
runaway airship?” asked Ned. 

“No, it isn’t an airship at all. I’ll tell you,” 
and Jerry went to the engine-room, where he 
slowed down the motor, for the plan of putting 
out the lights had been effective, and no more 
rockets were shot at them. 

“They took us for part of the celebration,” 
went on Jerry when he returned. “They prob¬ 
ably arranged to have some sort of a miniature, 
automatic airship sent up, aimed to go across the 
place above where the fireworks were being set 
off, but high in the air. Then it was the game to 
try and hit it with rockets.” 

This later was found to be the case. 

“We came along, and they took us for the 
miniature craft and fired at us,” Jerry continued. 
“It was all a mistake, but it was lucky they didn’t 
hit us. They must be puzzled, though, to see the 
second airship coming along.” 


AN ANGRY FARMER 131 

“Well, they’ve done for that one, anyhow!” 
cried Bob. “See, it’s all afire!” 

It was blazing fiercely, and beginning to de¬ 
scend, while a shower of rockets, and aerial bombs 
shot all around it. Our friends were now out of 
reach of the pyrotechnics, and ventured to turn on 
their lights again. Down below could be seen the 
place of the celebration, brilliantly illuminated, 
but the glow soon died out, and it was evident 
that the destruction of the miniature airship 
brought the affair to a close. 

They did not get to sleep early, on account of 
the excitement, but finally Jerry suggested that 
they take turns going on duty in the motor room. 

“For,” said the tall lad, “we’re flying low, and 
the machinery is so new that we can’t altogether 
depend on the automatic steering gear. So, to 
avoid accidents, some one will have to be on 
watch all night.” 

Morning came, with nothing having happened, 
and Bob was about early, bustling here and there 
getting breakfast. They were eating it, taking oc¬ 
casional glimpses down at the country over which 
they were passing, and speculating on when they 
would arrive at the balloon meet, and what would 
happen when they got there, when, with a sudden- 


132 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

ness that was terrifying, the Comet was jerked 
backward. 

The big aircraft trembled from end to end, 
and shivered throughout her length. Next fol¬ 
lowed a series of jerks, and then came a ripping, 
rending, tearing and splintering sound, hearing 
which, Jerry, with fear on his face, leaped to his 
feet. 

‘‘What’s the matter?” cried Ned. 

“Have we blown up?” demanded Bob. 

“My specimens!” shouted the professor, mak¬ 
ing a dive for his room, where he kept the boxes. 

Jerry rushed out on deck, and looked down 
over the rail. The airship was now stationary, 
though the propellers were buzzing around, and 
the tall lad soon saw the reason for the sudden 
halt. 

They were over a farmyard, and the anchor 
rope, to which was attached a grapple, with sev¬ 
eral prongs, had caught under the cornice of a 
large barn, holding the Comet securely. And, 
strewn on the earth, at one side of the structure, 
were splintered boards and pieces of timber that 
had been ripped off, as the dangling, sharp- 
pointed anchor had caught in the eaves and tore 
along, ripping off part of the roof. Then the 



YE DON’T STIR A STEP TILL YE COME DOWN AN’ 
SETTLE FER TH' DAMAGE.” 


Motor Boys Over the Ocean 


Page 133 
























AN ANGRY FARMER 133 

craft, as the anchor met a solid timber, had come 
to a stop. 

As Jerry looked down, there rushed out from 
the farmhouse an angry farmer. In his hands he 
held a gun, which he pointed at the airship. 

“Don’t ye dare t’ move!” he yelled. “Don’t 
ye stir! I’ve got th’ drop on ye, an’ I’m goin’t’ 
keep it! Ye don’t stir a step till ye come down 
an’ settle fer th’ damage. Ye well-nigh ripped my 
bam apart, an’ I jest had it fixed. Come down, 
ye rapscallions! Don’t ye stir a step till ye pay 
me!” 

He shook his gun menacingly. 

“I guess we’re not likely to stir, until we get 
the anchor loose, at any rate,” remarked Jerry 
coolly, for he had gotten over his fright when he 
saw that the airship was not damaged. 

Then, as the craft had no longer any forward 
motion, and as this is vitally necessary to every 
aeroplane, the Comet began to settle down rap¬ 
idly, almost on the roof of the barn. 


CHAPTER XVII 


HELD PRISONERS, 

“Look out or we’ll turn turtle, if we hit the 
barn!” yelled Bob. 

“Yes, we can’t go down this way!” added Ned. 
“Do something!” 

“All right, I’m going to start the gas ma¬ 
chine,” said Jerry. “Keep cool now, there’s no 
danger. By Jinks! But we seem to be having all 
kinds of bad luck lately. First we kill a calf, and 
now we rip a barn apart. Well, it can’t be 
helped.” 

The gas bag had been partly inflated ready for 
a landing at the balloon grounds, so that the 
Comet did not come down as rapidly as would 
otherwise have been the case. Jerry soon started 
the vapor machine, forcing more of the lifting gas 
into the container, and this further checked the 
descent. 

Almost as lightly as the proverbial feather, 
134 


HELD PRISONERS 135 

the Comet came down, resting on the ground near 
the barn. As soon as she settled to rest, the an¬ 
chor also dropped beside her, for there being no 
longer any upward strain on the sharp points to 
force them into the wood, the weight pulled them 
out. 

The farmer stood there defiantly, covering the 
boys with his gun, as they lined up on the deck of 
the airship, with Professor Snodgrass, his arms 
filled with specimen boxes, behind them, a puzzled 
look on his face. 

“What d’ ye mean, goin’ around th’ country, 
rippin’ folks’ barn apart?” demanded the farmer 
in surly tones. 

“It was an accident,” replied Jerry gently. 
“Our anchor and rope must have come loose, and 
were dragging along through the air.” 

“Come loose! I should say it did come loose!” 
spluttered the man. “So did nearly half my barn 
come loose! But I’ll have satisfaction for it. 
Hey, Bill—Sam! Come here an’ help me take 
care of these folks!” 

He raised his voice and two husky hired men 
came running from the direction of the house 
which the boys could just make out through the 
trees of the orchard. 

“Now then, grab ’em!” yelled the farmer, 


136 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

pointing his gun first at Jerry, then at Bob and 
then at Ned, and then beginning at Jerry again. 
“Grab ’em!” he cried, “an’ tie ’em up! There’s 
plenty of clothes line, an’ th’ women folks ain’t 
goin’ t’ wash t’-day.” 

The hired men, grinning in appreciation of the 
plight in which our friends found themselves, ad¬ 
vanced slowly. 

“There’s no necessity for resorting to harsh 
measures,” said Jerry with dignity. “We’re not 
going to run away.” 

“I’ll bet ye ain’t!” chuckled the farmer. “Not 
when I git through with ye! Tie ’em up, Sam an’ 
Bill.” 

“Look here!” cried Jerry, seeing that it did no 
good to be polite, “if you lay a hand on us, you’ll 
get into trouble! We won’t stand for any such 
treatment from you! The damage we did was 
accidental, and we’re willing to pay-” 

“That’s what ye will! Pay, an’ pay good an’ 
proper!” interrupted the unpleasant farmer. 

“What do you think it’s worth?” asked Bob, as 
Jerry went to look and see if the strain of the 
anchor rope had done any harm to the airship. 

“What do I think it’s wuth? Why, a thousand 
dollars won’t cover my damage! I jest had that 
barn repaired t’ hold my crops, an’ here ye come 



HELD PRISONERS 137 

along, an’ rip it all t’ smithereens! A thousand 
dollars-” 

“What’s that?” cried Jerry, reappearing at 
that moment. “A thousand dollars!” 

“He says we damaged his barn that much,” ex¬ 
plained Bob. 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the tall lad. 

“No nonsense about it!” spluttered the farmer. 
“An’ ef ye don’t settle I’ll have ye arrested. Sam 
an’ Bill I reckon ye’d better git them cords ready 
arter all.” 

“Why, we have only torn off a small piece of 
the cornice and some of the eaves,” said Jerry, 
pointing to where the damage had been done. 

“Hu! It’s easy enough fer ye t’ say that, 
young feller, but it ain’t so easy t’ git my barn 
fixed. Either ye pay me a thousand dollars, or 
ye go t’ jail, th’ hull three of ye—no, by gum! 
There’s another one of ye—there’s four!” as he 
caught sight of the professor who, seeing that he 
could be of no service, was calmly looking over 
his note-books. “Is he yer father?” asked the 
farmer. “If he is, he can pay th’ damage. Folks 
what go about in airships must have lots of 
money.” 

“No, he’s not our father,” replied Jerry 
shortly, “and we haven’t lots of money. We are 



138 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

willing to pay you a reasonable sum for dam- 
aging your barn, but a thousand dollars is out of 
the question.” 

“It is, eh? Well, mebby when ye’ve been in jail 
a couple of days ye won’t think so. Sam an’ Bill, 
take ’em, an’ tie ’em, while I hitch up, an’ git 
ready t’ bring ’em over t’ Lafayette, t’ th’ court 
house. I’ll show ’em they can’t make no monkey 
of me!” 

“Nature did that for you,” murmured Ned, 
“and saved us the trouble.” 

The two hired men, one of whom had secured 
a clothes line, now advanced on our friends. The 
farmer stood ready to back them up with his gun, 
and the boys had had no chance to get a weapon, 
even had they desired to do so, which they prob¬ 
ably did not, as they were not of the fighting class. 

“You’d better not touch us!” threatened Jerry. 

“No! Hands off!” ordered Bob. 

“Hear ’em talk!” mocked Bill. “Do ye think 
we kin handle ’em, Sam?” 

“I reckon so. You take th’ tall feller, an’ I’ll 
tackle th’ other two. Th’ old man looks harm¬ 
less.” 

“I’ll attend t’ him,” remarked the farmer. “I 
reckon Si Muggins ain’t forgot how t’ shoot.” 


HELD PRISONERS 139 

The two hired men came rapidly forward. 
Sam laid a hand on the shoulder of Bob. The fat 
lad shrunk away, and looked to Jerry for a signal 
as to what to do. That youth, as Bill approached 
him, drew back his arm to deliver a blow. In 
another moment there would have been a fight, 
but the professor, looking up, and probably real¬ 
izing for the first time what was going on, ex¬ 
claimed: 

“Easy, boys. We’ll arbitrate this. Let them 
take you, and don’t resist. The proper authori¬ 
ties will settle this.” 

“That’s what they will!” declared Mr. Mug¬ 
gins, shaking his gun. “Tie ’em up, Bill an’ 
Sam.” 

“There’s no need for that,” said Jerry more 
calmly. “We’ll go wherever you want to take 
us.” 

“All right; then lock ’em in th’ smoke house 
until I kin hitch up,” decided the farmer, and, 
with feelings of bitter humiliation in their hearts, 
but resolving not to give in to the extortionate de¬ 
mands of Mr. Muggins, the four meekly followed 
the hired men. 

A little later they were locked up, prisoners in 
the stifling smoke house, where, in the fall, hams 


140 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

and bacon were cured over a hickory fire. It was 
dark, dirty and ill-smelling, and a great change 
from their comfortable airship, which they could 
just make out through the cracks in the smoke 
house door, resting near the damaged barn. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE ESCAPE 

“Well, wouldn’t this jar you!” 

That was what Bob said. 

“Say, it reminds me of when I was little, and 
used to get shut up in a dark closet for being 
bad.” 

That was Ned’s contribution to the general con¬ 
versation. 

“I wish we’d yanked over his whole bam, and 
then gone on!” 

This from Jerry, wrathfully. 

“Well, it’s too bad it’s so gloomy in here that 
I can’t even see to read my notes, or look for any 
specimens,” lamented Professor Snodgrass. 

Then they remained silent for a few minutes, 
going over in their minds their unpleasant situ¬ 
ation. They sat on some saw horses which had 
been hastily thrust into their prison before the 
door had been locked. 

“Seems to be a pretty solid sort of a place,” 


142 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

observed Ned, after a pause, during which he had 
pounded and kicked on the sides of their shack. 

“It is,” agreed Jerry. “They don’ t use smoke 
houses much any more, and as they were built 
years ago, when the farmers had lots of time, 
they made ’em solid. But I wonder how long 
he’s going to keep us here ? The old villain! To 
have the nerve to ask us a thousand dollars for 
damages. Why, a hundred would more than 
pay him!” 

“A hundred and fifty would, easily,” declared 
Ned, “and I’d be willing to settle on that basis, 
for we ought to be at Danforth now.” 

They talked about their trouble for some time, 
and after an hour or two one of the hired men 
brought the prisoners some food. They ate 
heartily and a little later Mr. Muggins ap¬ 
proached the smoke house. 

“I can’t take you fellers over t’ court t’-day,” 
he announced, “because one of my hosses is sick. 
But I’ll take ye over fust thing in th’ morninV an’ 
I’ll have justice, too, unless ye want t’ pay me th’ 
thousand dollars now.” 

“In the first place, we haven’t got it,” declared 
Jerry, “and, if we did have, we’d never pay that 
amount.” 

“Then I’ll hold ye fer th’ proper authorities.” 


THE ESCAPE 


143 

“Are you going to keep us in this place all 
night?” demanded the professor. “If you do you 
will be liable for severe penalties.” 

“I ain’t aimin’ t’ keep ye here over night,” 
went on Mr. Muggins. “I’m goin’t’ put ye in th’ 
harness room right away.” 

A little later the transfer was made, and, 
closely guarded, our friends were shifted to some¬ 
what better quarters, though seemingly none the 
less secure. They were locked in a small room 
where hung many old, and some new harnesses, 
the apartment being partitioned off from the car¬ 
riage house. The door was locked, and they were 
left alone, some blankets having been provided 
for beds, and the assurance given that they would 
soon have supper. 

The day passed miserably and slowly. They 
could not see their airship from where they now 
were, and they feared lest something happen to it. 
Talk lagged among the boys, but the professor 
did not seem to mind his imprisonment, for he 
had light now to see to work on his notes, and 
he managed to capture several small bugs, which 
he put in his boxes that he had carried into his 
prison with him. 

Supper was brought to them about dusk, and 
Jerry took the opportunity to demand of Mr. 


144 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Muggins that they either be taken at once before 
a magistrate, or released on payment of one 
hundred and fifty dollars, which, he said was all 
it would cost to repair the barn. 

But Mr. Muggins was obstinate, and would not 
listen to reason. He departed, locking the har¬ 
ness room door securely after him. 

“Well, we might as well make up our minds to 
spend the night here,” said Bob gloomily. “Any¬ 
how, I’m not hungry—at least for the present.” 

“That’s a comfort,” observed Jerry some¬ 
what sarcastically. He was walking idly about 
the room when his foot happened to knock against 
a board near the floor. 

Quickly he stooped over, and inserted his fin¬ 
gers in a crack. There was just light enough left 
from the fast-closing day, to show that the board 
was loose. 

“Look, fellows!” exclaimed the tall lad. 

“What is it?” asked Ned. 

“This board! I believe we can kick it off and 
get out!” 

“Do it then!” urged Bob. 

“No, not now,” said Jerry calmly. “It’s too 
early, and they’d hear the noise. Wait until after 
dark, when they’re all in bed, and we’ll escape.” 

“But if we do get the board off,” objected Ned, 


THE ESCAPE 145 

“we’ll only be out in the main room of the car¬ 
riage house.” 

“That’s all right,” declared Jerry. “There are 
low windows there, and the doors don’t fasten as 
tightly as this one does. We can get out of the 
carriage house easily enough, sneak to the air¬ 
ship, and be off before that rascally farmer and 
his hired men know what’s up.” 

“Good!” cried Professor Snodgrass. “I’ll 
help!” 

They could hardly wait for the time to come. 
It got very dark, for the lantern had been taken 
away from them. At Jerry’s suggestion they 
stretched out on the blankets and tried to rest until 
it should be late enough to make the attempt to 
escape. 

They could hear movements about the barn¬ 
yard, and guessed that remedies were being ad¬ 
ministered to the sick horse. At last, however, alt 
was quiet, and, waiting to give the farmer’s fam¬ 
ily time to get asleep, our heroes began to make 
ready to leave. 

It was no easy matter to get the board off, but 
they finally managed it, and, after loosening an¬ 
other by the exercise of all their strength, they 
found they had a place big enough for them to 
squeeze through. Bob found it hard work, on 


146 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

account of his stoutness, and Ned and Jerry, who 
got out first, had to pull their chum from in front, 
while Professor Snodgrass pushed from behind. 
But it was finally accomplished, though poor 
Chunky said he felt as though his skin was all 
scraped off him. 

“Now to get out of this place !” exclaimed 
Jerry eagerly. “It ought to be easy!” 

They located a window, by the starlight shining 
through it, and found that they could slide it 
back. Then, by standing on boxes, they managed 
to get out of it, and, a few minutes later they 
found themselves on the ground, in the shadow of 
the carriage house—free. 

‘Oh, but it’s good to be out again!” exclaimed 
Ned, taking a long breath. 

“No time for that now!” warned Jerry. 
“Hurry to the airship!” 

They found the Comet where it had landed. It 
did not seem to have been touched, but it was 
fastened to the earth by ropes, attached to several 
stones as anchors. 

“Get in!” ordered Jerry to his chums in a whis¬ 
per. “I’ll start the gas machine, and we’ll rise 
like a balloon before starting the propellers. 
Then they won’t hear us.” 

Rapidly they climbed aboard. Soon the hissing 


THE ESCAPE 


147 

of the gas generator told that vapor was being 
forced into the bag. 

“Cast off!” ordered Jerry in a whisper, and 
the retaining ropes were loosened. 

Up shot the Comet as if glad to be free once 
more. Higher and higher she rose, until she was 
above the roof of the barn. 

Then, just as Jerry was about to turn the power 
into the motor and start the propellers, there was 
the sound of a window being thrown up, and a 
voice they recognized as that of Mr. Muggins’s 
cried: 

“Hold on there! Come back! Ye can’t es¬ 
cape like that!” 

There was a flash of fire, and a loud report. 

“He’s shooting at us!” cried Bob. 


CHAPTER XIX 


AT THE BALLOON MEET 

Jerry was working frantically at the machin¬ 
ery. Something seemed to be the matter with it, 
and he had a fear that perhaps the farmer or his 
men might have been tinkering with the motor. 

“Why don’t we move?” cried Ned. 

“Yes, let’s get out of here, or he’ll have us 
back in that smoke house again!” yelled Bob. 

“Can I help?” demanded the professor, who 
having placed his precious specimen boxes in a 
safe place aboard the ship, was scurrying about 
the deck in the darkness, without any special ob¬ 
ject in view. 

“I’m doing the best I can!” cried Jerry. “This 
lever seems to be stuck!” 

“Hold on there!” yelled the farmer again. 
“I’ve got th’ drop on ye! I’m goin’ t’ shoot 
ag’in!” 

There was another flash of fire and a loud re¬ 
port. By the gleam from the gun the boys could 
see Mr. Muggins leaning out of his bedroom win- 
148 


AT THE BALLOON MEET 


149 

dow, pointing the weapon at them. But they 
heard the bullet sing through the air, high over 
their heads. 

“He isn’t shooting at us!” cried Bob in a 
hoarse whisper. “He’s aiming high!” 

“That’s just the trouble!” murmured Jerry. 
“He may put a hole through the gas bag! Hang 
it all. What’s the matter with this lever, any¬ 
how?” 

As he spoke he gave it another sudden yank. 
There was a clicking sound, a hum and purr that 
became a muffled roar and then the motor started. 
The big propellers whirled around and the Comet 
shot ahead. 

“Now we’re safe!” cried Ned. “Shoot away, 
old man; you can’t hit us now!” 

As if taking the lad at his word Mr. Muggins 
fired again, but they did not hear the sound of 
the bullet. Then, faint and far away, for they 
were now some distance from the farmhouse, 
came the threatening voice: 

“I’ll catch you fellers yet! I know where ye’re 
goin’ in that there balloon machine, an’ I’ll be 
right arter ye! Ye can’t git away from old man 
Muggins that way! I’ll have the sheriff on yer 
trail!” 

“Still, we did get away,” exulted Jerry, “and 


ISO MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

I’d like to see you catch us now, Mr. Muggins!” 
He turned more power into the motor and the 
craft shot ahead faster than ever, while, back in 
the darkness, an exceedingly angry farmer closed 
his window with a bang and muttered dire threats 
against the lads who had gotten the better of him. 

Meanwhile our heroes were scudding along 
through the air. They did not venture to turn 
on any lights for some time, fearing that perhaps 
the ugly farmer, with a powerful rifle might man¬ 
age to aim at them, and puncture the gas bag. 
But it did not take long to get out of range, and 
then they lit up. 

“I know what I’m going to do,” declared Bob, 
as he started for the store room. 

‘‘What’s that, Chunky?” asked Ned. 

“Get something to eat! That stuff Mrs. Mug¬ 
gins sent us was all right, but there wasn’t enough 
of it. Don’t you fellows want something? How 
about you, Professor?” 

“Oh, you’re the limit, Bob!” cried Jerry. “But 
I suppose there’s no stopping you. Go ahead.” 

“We must be near Danforth,” remarked Ned, 
a little later. “We don’t want to run past it, 
Jerry, for we can’t see it in the dark.” 

“No, and for that reason I’m going to slow 
down now, and remain as stationary as the wind 


AT THE BALLOON MEET 151 

will let us. There is no use going a long distance 
out of our way. I’ll fill the gas bag, and we’ll 
float in the air until morning.” 

This was soon done, and feeling very tired 
from the experience they had just passed through 
they all went to bed, leaving the Comet floating in 
space, blown here and there by gentle breezes 
which Jerry knew would not take them far out of 
their course. 

“See anything of the grounds where the bal¬ 
loon meet is being held?” asked Jerry of Bob, 
who was up early to make coffee. 

The stout lad took an observation over the rail 
of the craft before replying. 

“Nothing like it in sight,” he answered. “We 
seem to be over a farming country, and I can see 
two or three men driving their teams along the 
road. They’re looking up here and waving their 
hands. That one fellow will dislocate his neck, 
if he doesn’t look out.” 

“Well, see to it that the anchor isn’t trailing,” 
advised Jerry. “We can’t afford to rip off any 
more barn roofs. By the way, I wonder if we 
hadn’t ought to have left some money for Mr. 
Muggins?” 

“He was too mean,” declared Ned. “But we 
must be careful not to have any more delays. I’m 


152 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

getting nervous about not seeing Mr. Jackson.” 

“We’ll catch him to-day I guess,” declared 
Jerry, as he got up to take an observation. By 
looking at some maps which he had, he calcu¬ 
lated that they were within a few miles of Dan- 
forth, having been blown a little out of their 
course in the night. The motor was started, and 
the Comet headed in the right direction. 

Eagerly the boys kept watch for the first sight 
of the big park where the balloon and aeroplane 
meet was to take place. They knew it would be 
visible some distance away, for there would be 
tents erected as “hangars” for the balloons, and 
probably the canvas shelters would be gay with 
flags. 

They were right. Half an hour later Bob, who 
had gone away up forward, where he had an un¬ 
obstructed view, gave a shout. 

“There it is!” he cried. “I see it! Crimps! 
but it’s a big one. We’re all right, fellows, let’s 
make a sensational landing, Jerry!” 

“How do you mean?” asked the tall lad, “turn 
a somersault, or something like that?” 

“No, but speed around, do some stunts and then 
come down in the middle of the park.” 

“All right, we’ll try it.” 

And indeed Jerry was not a little proud ol 


AT THE BALLOON MEET 


153 

what their craft could do, so he was willing to fall 
in with Bob’s idea. 

The Comet was sent up, and then directed 
downward. Then Jerry put her through some in¬ 
tricate evolutions, to show what control he had 
of her. 

Though it was early there was a big crowd on 
the grounds and they were much interested in 
what was going on. The boys could see thou¬ 
sands of persons gazing up at them. They noted 
numbers of tents and sheds which evidently 
housed the big aircraft. There were several bal¬ 
loons without shelter, the big bags, partly filled, 
swaying in the wind. 

One dirigible in particular attracted their at¬ 
tention. It was very large, and seemed to have a 
large boat-shaped cabin attached below it. In 
fact, the lower part was not unlike their own 
Comet. 

About this craft there was quite a throng, and 
men could be seen busily engaged, evidently in 
getting it ready for a flight. 

“Well, I guess we’ve done enough,” remarked 
Jerry at length. “We’d better go down.” 

“Yes,” agreed Ned. “I’d like to see what sort 
of a craft that one is,” and he motioned to the 
big dirigible. 


154 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Hardly had he spoken than there came a shout 
from below, and the balloon rose swiftly in the 
air. 

‘‘They’re making an early flight!” cried Bob. 
“We missed ’em.” 

“Oh, we can see from here just as well,” said 
Jerry, as he checked the downward progress of 
the Comet for a moment. 

Upward shot the big dirigible, amid the cheers 
of the onlookers, and then, wishing to make as 
good a landing as possible, and needing good 
speed and control to effect this, Jerry again sent 
the motor-ship downward. 

A little later the motor boys landed in the midst 
of a big, green, open space, while the crowd 
thronged up around them, cheering their im¬ 
promptu exhibition, and asking all sorts of ques¬ 
tions. 

“Here at last!” cried Ned, with a sigh of re¬ 
lief. “Now to find Mr. Jackson.” 

Overhead the big dirigible was shooting for¬ 
ward through space, for her propellers had been 
set in motion. The boys watched her with great 
interest, little knowing how their own fate was 
interwoven in that of the strange craft. 


CHAPTER XX 


MR. JACKSON IS GONE 

“That’s a great machine!” 

“Sort of cross between a dirigible and an aero¬ 
plane.” 

“Wonder where they came from?” 

“Say, how much speed can you make?” 

“How high can you go?” 

These were some of the comments and ques¬ 
tions that greeted our friends as they alighted 
from their craft. They answered them as well as 
they could, and, having anchored the Comet, for 
there was some gas in the bag, that tended to 
raise her, they made their way through the press 
of people. 

“Where shall we go?” asked Bob. 

“To the office of the secretary, or some of the 
officials of the meet,” answered Ned. “I want to 
inquire about Mr. Jackson. I hope I have those 
papers safe, that dad wants him to sign.” 

He quickly felt in his pockets, assured himself 
that the valuable documents were there, and kept 
155 


156 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

on with his companions. Professor Snodgrass 
brought up in the rear, with his small butterfly 
net over his shoulder, and an empty specimen 
box in his hand, ready for whatever he might see 
in the way of insects. 

Meanwhile Bob, Ned and Jerry were making 
their way to where they had been told were the 
offices of the company that had arranged the bal¬ 
loon meet. As the boys walked along they asked 
several men they met whether Mr. Jackson had 
arrived, but they could obtain no information. 
Either the persons were foreigners who had come 
to do stunts in their aeroplanes, and could not 
understand or speak much English, or else they 
had heard nothing of the man whom the merch¬ 
ant’s son was so anxious to meet. 

“Well, the secretary will be sure to know,” de¬ 
cided Ned, as, followed by his chums, he entered 
the offices which were in a temporary building. 

“Is Mr. Wescott Jackson’s machine here yet?” 
asked Ned, when he had found the proper official. 

“It was here,” was the reply. 

“JVas here? Why, has he taken it away?” 

“Not exactly. It’s off on a trial trip.” 

“Then where is Mr. Jackson?” 

“Oh, he’s gone, too—he went in his dirigible 
balloon a little while ago. Didn’t you notice a 


MR. JACKSON IS GONE 157 

craft going up, just as you came down?” asked 
the secretary. 

“Yes—yes,” replied Ned, while he felt a lump 
come up in his throat. “Was Mr. Jackson 
aboard?” 

“Indeed he was. He is piloting his craft, and 
he has a friend with him besides the crew. As I 
said, he went off on a trial trip.” 

“When is he coming back?” asked Jerry. 

“Well, it’s hard to say.” 

“Do you mean he won’t come back here at 
all?” demanded Ned, as he felt of the documents 
in his pocket—documents which it was so vital 
that Mr. Jackson sign. 

“Oh, yes, we expect him back,” was the answer. 
“You see the meet officially opens to-day, and Mr. 
Jackson has promised to give an exhibition flight. 
Before venturing on that, however, he said he 
wanted to give his machine a tryout, so he took it 
up this morning. We expect him back almost any 
time.” 

“Oh, that’s different,” said Ned, with an air of 
relief. “I want to see him on very important 
business, but we can wait until he returns.” 

“I understand you have quite an airship your¬ 
self,” went on the secretary. “Don’t you want to 
enter her?” 


158 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

The boys decided that they did not care to do 
this, at least until after they had seen Mr. Jack- 
son, and obtained his signature. 

“Perhaps we’ll enter some of the contests 
then,” remarked Jerry. “That is, if we may.” 

“Oh, we’d be glad to have you. In fact, if you 
will give an exhibition flight this morning the com¬ 
mittee will pay you well for it. We expected to 
have a well-known aviator here with his biplane, 
but he has disappointed us, and we have nothing 
with which to interest the crowds until afternoon. 
So if you could fill in, we’d be much obliged to 
you.” 

“Let’s do it,” urged Bob eagerly. 

“We might miss Mr. Jackson,” spoke Ned. 

“Oh, you needn’t go far away from the 
grounds,” put in the secretary, “and you can see 
Mr. Jackson’s balloon when it heads back this 
way. I don’t believe he’ll go far off.” 

‘Might as well then, to pass the time,” sug¬ 
gested Jerry, and as Ned was willing, under these 
circumstances, the boys went back to their machine 
to get it ready for a flight. But Ned kept anxious 
eyes on the sky, watching for a first sight of the 
returning dirigible. 


CHAPTER XXI 


A MESSAGE FOR HELP 

“What sort of stunts are you going to try, 
Jerry?” asked Ned, as the tall lad hurried here 
and there about the Comet, looking to see that all 
the machinery was properly adjusted. 

“Oh, I don’t know. We’ll go up quite a dis¬ 
tance—higher than any of the craft they have 
here, I guess, and we’ll do some aerial evolutions. 
Then I thought we might show them how we 
can change from a dirigible to an aeroplane and 
back again, in mid-air, by letting the gas out of 
the bag, and filling it again.” 

“That’s a good idea.” 

“Why don’t you demonstrate the hydroplanes, 
too?” asked Bob, who, for some time now, had 
not mentioned eating. 

“Where’s the water?” inquired Jerry. 

“I saw a little lake over in that direction as 
we were coming down,” announced the stout lad, 
159 


160 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

pointing toward the left. “It looked big enough 
to land on, and even if you can’t scoot across it, 
and rise from it, we can go up as a balloon.” 

“All right, we’ll do it,” agreed Jerry. “Better 
tell the secretary that if the crowd wants to see 
that stunt they’ll have to hustle over.” 

Bob took this information to the official, who 
came hurrying over from his office, greatly de¬ 
lighted at the prospect of having some attraction 
to take the part on the program .that was to have 
been filled by the biplane. The secretary had an¬ 
nouncements made through megaphones, concern¬ 
ing the prospective flight of the motor boys, and 
telling of the hydroplane feature. 

Matters were soon in readiness, and, after a 
vain search for Professor Snodgrass, who, the 
boys thought likely, was off gathering bugs, it 
was decided to go up without him. 

Up shot the Comet as Jerry turned on the gas. 
Straight up into the air she went, for it was as a 
dirigible balloon that the owners decided to show 
their craft’s ability. Then, after doing some in¬ 
tricate figures at a comparatively low elevation, 
Jerry went out after a height record. 

It is needless to say that he got it, for the 
barograph registered a little over three miles 
when they started to descend. They would not 


A MESSAGE FOR HELP 161 

have had to come down then, only they ran into a 
cold snowstorm in the upper regions, and they 
did not want to take any chances. 

When they landed, and the officials gave out 
the verified figures of their climb into space there 
was a hearty cheer. Jerry, with the aid of his 
chums, next showed what their craft could do as 
an aeroplane. She was sent skimming along the 
ground on the bicycle wheels, and, when enough 
momentum had been acquired, the steersman 
tilted the elevation rudder and up soared the 
Comet again. 

This time the stunt of sailing along as an aero¬ 
plane, suddenly stopping the propellers, and 
changing to the form of a dirigible balloon was 
successfully accomplished, to the delight of the 
watching throng. 

“Now for the hydroplanes!” Jerry announced 
to Bob and Ned, giving the signal agreed upon 
to those below. The press of people made a rush 
for the little lake about half a mile distant, and 
the boys waited until most of the crowd lined the 
shores before starting toward it. 

Then, after sailing swiftly above the surface of 
the water Jerry suddenly began a descent. While 
Bob and Ned managed the craft Jerry stood 
ready at the hydroplane levers. 


162 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


“Tell me when to shunt them into place,’’ he 
called to Bob who was on the lookout. 

“Now!” suddenly shouted the stout lad. 

The lever snapped forward, the floats on the 
toggle-jointed arms went downward, while the 
bicycle wheels came up and, a moment later, the 
Comet was afloat. 

A cheer went up from the crowd, and there was 
continued hearty applause for a feat that has sel¬ 
dom been seen, save very recently in airship 
circles. 

Jerry put the craft slowly about on the lake, and 
then as it was drawing toward noon, when other 
aeroplane “stunts” would be the order of the day, 
and as they were anxious to see if they could sight 
Mr. Jackson returning, it was decided to go back 
to the aviation park. 

Another cheer greeted the ability of our heroes, 
as they headed their craft for the park, and the 
crowd streamed back below them. 

“See anything of the dirigible?” asked Jerry, 
as Ned was anxiously scanning the air all about 
them. 

“No,” was the somewhat despondent answer. 
“Mr. Jackson’s machine doesn’t appear to be in 
sight.” 

“Try with the glasses,” suggested the tall lad, 


A MESSAGE FOR HELP 


163 

passing to the merchant’s son a pair of powerful 
binoculars. “Maybe you can pick him up with 
those.” 

Ned swept the horizon, and pointed the glasses 
to the zenith, taking in all the intervening space 
as well as he could. But the sight of a black 
speck, which could be focussed into a dirigible 
balloon, did not greet his eyes. 

“Oh, well, he’ll come back sooner or later,” 
declared Jerry. “Perhaps he went farther than 
he intended to.” 

“Sure, he’ll come back,” added Bob. “We do 
seem to have the greatest luck missing that man. 
Everywhere we go we are just too late.” 

“I hope not this time,” said Ned in a low voice. 
“The only thing that’s worrying me is that he 
may have met with some accident, and-” 

“Oh, nonsense!” exclaimed Jerry. “If there 
had been an accident we’d have heard of it. The 
grounds here are connected by telegraph with 
New York City and the whole country for that 
matter. In fact we’re only a few miles from New 
York. We must try a trip across it before we go 
back to Cresville.” 

“That’ll make the people in the skyscrapers 
look out of the windows and get stiff necks,” pre¬ 
dicted Bob with a laugh. 



164 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

As they landed and made fast their craft, in a 
sheltered space set aside for them by the secretary 
of the meet, the boys were aware of some excite¬ 
ment around a small building near the committee 
offices. 

“What’s going on over there I wonder?” 
asked Ned, as he saw a crowd running toward it, 
and surrounding a man in his shirt sleeves, who 
held a paper in his hand. 

“We’ll go over and see,” suggested Jerry. 
“Maybe Professor Snodgrass has just discovered 
a pink flea on a yellow dog, or has picked some 
new kind of July bug from a lady’s hat.” 

As they neared the place they saw by a sign on 
the temporary wooden building that it was a tele¬ 
graph office, and also one where wireless messages 
could be received and sent. 

“It’s news from somewhere, evidently,” com¬ 
mented Ned. 

They pushed their way through the press of 
people. 

“What is it?” cried several. “Read it to us!” 

“I will, if you’ll be quiet,” answered the man 
with the fluttering paper in his hand. “This is a 
wireless message I just received from Mr. Wes- 
cott Jackson. It was sent from his dirigible bal¬ 
loon Manhattan” 


A MESSAGE FOR HELP 165 

“Read it!” cried the impatient throng. 

“Here it is!” went on the man, and read as fol¬ 
lows : 

“ ‘We are disabled and are being blown out to 
sea in the grip of an upper-air hurricane! Send 
help, if possible!’ ” 


CHAPTER XXII 


TO THE RESCUE 

Silence greeted the reading of the message— 
silence at first, and then, as the import of the 
appeal came home to the crowd, there were mur¬ 
murs of surprise and despair. 

“Blown out to sea!” exclaimed Jerry. “How 
could they be over the ocean so soon after leav¬ 
ing here ? They must have travelled at a terrific 
rate.” 

“You forget,” said Bob, “that we’re within a 
few miles of New York, and not far from the 
sea. It’s only a short distance to the ocean.” 

“That’s right,” agreed Ned. “And if they’re 
in a hurricane of the upper air they may be swept 
along for several days.” 

“But we must help them!” exclaimed Professor 
Snodgrass, who had temporarily abandoned his 
pursuit after specimens and had joined his friends 
in the crowd. “They have appealed to us all for 
aid.” 


166 


TO THE RESCUE 167 

“That’s right!” cried several. “We must go 
to the rescue. We must send out a relief expedi¬ 
tion. Notify the naval authorities, and have a 
swift torpedo boat sent out to pick them up in 
case they fall into the sea. All ship captains 
should be notified by wireless.” 

“I’ll attend to that part of it,” promised the 
wireless operator who was stationed on the avia¬ 
tion grounds. 

“But in which direction are they being blown?” 
asked Jerry. “Which way should the ships look 
for them? Did the message say?” 

The operator shook his head. 

“It just says that they are being blown out to 
sea,” he replied. 

“Quick!” cried Ned. “Get into communication 
with them again! Call them on the wireless and 
ask which way they are being blown.” 

“That’s it!” shouted several in the crowd. 

The operator made a jump for his instruments, 
and soon there was snapping through the air of 
the wireless waves, directed toward the runaway 
and disabled balloon. 

There were several minutes of anxious waiting, 
while the crackling sounds could plainly be heard, 
so quiet was it. Suddenly Ned uttered a cry. 

“What’s the matter?” asked Bob. 


168 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Mr. Jackson!” replied the merchant’s son. 
“Mr. Jackson is on that disabled balloon. He is 
being blown out to sea and he may never be res¬ 
cued. Then my father’s business will fail! Oh, 
what luck—what fearful luck we’ve had since we 
set out to find him! We can’t seem to get in touch 
with him, and every day’s delay makes it worse 
for poor dad!” 

“By Jove!” exclaimed Jerry, “that’s so! I for¬ 
got for the moment that we need to see Mr. Jack- 
son, and he’s on that balloon, over the ocean. I 
guess-” 

Jerry was interrupted by the reappearance of 
the wireless operator. There was a despondent 
look on the man’s face. 

“Did you hear from them?” cried Bob. 

The man shook his head. 

“It’s of no use,” he answered. “I called and 
called, and finally I did manage to pick them up; 

I started to ask them their direction, but their op¬ 
erator broke in on me.” 

“What did he say?” demanded Jerry. 

“Just one word,” was the answer, “just one 
word—‘help!’ That’s all.” 

Once more came an ominous silence. 

“Well, why don’t we send help?” suddenly 
asked a man in the throng. “Here we are at a 



TO THE RESCUE 169 

balloon and aviation meet, and one of the aircraft 
needs help. There are several balloons on hand, 
and any number of aeroplanes. Why don’t some 
of them start out to sea, and try to find Mr. Jack- 
son and his crowd?” 

“That’s the stuff! Go to the rescue!” was the 
general cry. 

It was a most practical suggestion, but when it 
came to the matter of applying it, trouble devel¬ 
oped at once. Inquiries were made among the 
several balloonists and aviators as to which craft 
would be the best to send to aid the unfortunate 
men, who might, perhaps, even then, be in danger 
of death. 

“Send the big balloon North America” said 
the man who had made the suggestion. 

“I can’t go in her,” replied the pilot of the air¬ 
craft. “Mine isn’t a dirigible, and I’m at the 
mercy of the wind when I get up. An aeroplane 
is what you need.” 

“There’s the New Yorker!” came from sev¬ 
eral, and they started toward the shed where a 
large biplane, capable of carrying four passen¬ 
gers, was housed. 

“No use,” answered the owner of that craft. 
“I wouldn’t dare go over the ocean in her.” 

“Why not?” asked Ned eagerly. For more 


170 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

reasons than one he wanted to see Mr. Jackson 
rescued. 

“In the first place, my craft is not reliable 
enough,” was the reply. “I might take a tumble 
into the sea myself. Then, again, I can’t carry 
gasolene enough for a long flight, and, even if I 
did sight the Manhattan I couldn’t do the people 
on her any good.” 

“Why not?” again demanded the man who had 
made the suggestion. “Didn’t the steamer Trent 
rescue Wellman and his crew from the dirigible 
balloon America at sea?” 

“They did,” was the reply, “but the Trent 
could come to a stop. I can’t come to a stop 
without falling into the sea. What is needed is a 
balloon or aeroplane that can remain stationary 
in the air.” 

As if by common consent the eyes of nearly 
every person in the crowd were turned toward the 
motor boys. Their craft which had been put 
through her paces that day, travelling on the 
water as well as through the air—which had come 
to a halt while nearly a mile high and had floated 
as easily as a feather—that craft—the Comet 
seemed to offer a solution of the problem. The 
boys felt it themselves, and perhaps only their 


TO THE RESCUE 171 

modesty had prevented them from offering their 
services before. 

“Say!” cried the man who seemed to have 
taken charge of matters, “I guess it’s up to you 
boys! Will you go to the rescue?” 

He addressed himself to Jerry. The tall lad 
glanced at his companions. They nodded their 
heads in assent. As for Professor Snodgrass 
there was an eager look on his face. 

“Go! Go!” he whispered to Jerry. “It’s the 
very chance I need to get my singing fish.” 

Jerry hesitated but a moment longer. 

“Very well,” he answered, “we’ll go.” 

“Good!” cried the man who had taken the 
initiative. Later the boys learned that he was 
Mr. Durkin, manager of the meet. “That’s the 
way to talk, boys! Here we have a whole lot 
of aircraft, and only one really fit for practical 
work. Now, then, how about gasolene? Have 
you enough for a big trip? There’s no telling 
how long you may be gone. Those upper-air hur¬ 
ricanes sometimes last for a week.” 

“We’ll need to refill our gasolene tanks,” said 
Jerry. 

“Then we’ll attend to that part for you,” said 
Mr. Durkin. “There are hundreds of gallons of 


172 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

the stuff here on the grounds. You look over 
your motor and machinery. It won’t do to have 
it break down. How about provisions?” 

“Enough for a month!” cried Bob, and when 
his chums laughed the crowd wondered why. But 
for once Bob had the advantage, and he knew it. 
Only for the stocking of the craft with a big sup¬ 
ply of food would it be possible to go on a long 
trip. And had it not already been aboard there 
would have been a long delay. 

“Well, fellows, if we’re going, we’d better see 
to the Comet,” proposed Jerry. “Come on, hus¬ 
tle ! Professor Snodgrass-” 

“Right here!” cried the little scientist eagerly. 
“I’ll do anything you say. Oh, to think that at 
last we are to go to sea where I may get my 
singing fish! What shall I do?” 

He was anxious to help, and for the time being 
forgot all about gathering ordinary specimens. 
Jerry mentioned several tasks which the little man 
could well attend to. 

Soon there were busy scenes about the Comet. 
Gasolene was being poured into her reserve tanks. 
Bob took a last look at the provisions, and added 
several boxes and packages of food that kind 
friends offered. At Mr. Durkin’s suggestion 
some medicines w r ere taken along, also some 



TO THE RESCUE 


173 


planks and ropes to be used in the possible rescue. 

Jerry and Ned went over the machinery, and 
found that it was all right. Not a bolt was 
strained, not a nut loosened. The Comet was fit 
to make a flight half way across the Atlantic if 
need be. 

“Well, I guess we’re about ready to start,” an¬ 
nounced Jerry, after a last look over the machin¬ 
ery. There were many offers of help from per¬ 
sons in the crowd, but there was little they could 
do. Many also begged to be taken on the rescue 
trip, but these, of course, had to be refused. 

“The sooner we get started the better,” spoke 
Ned, as he started on a run across the aviation 
grounds. 

“Where you going?” called Jerry. 

“To send a message to dad. I want to tell him 
where we are going, and the reason why I haven’t 
been able to get in touch with Mr. Jackson.” 

“That’s a good idea. Send word to my folks, 
and to Bob’s also.” 

“Sure!” called back Ned. 

Soon a message was being flashed to his 
father, and to the other folks in Cresville. While 
waiting for a reply from his parent, Ned sug¬ 
gested to the operator that he try once again to 
get into communication with the Manhattan . 


174 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

Through space the wireless messages clicked, 
but silence was the only answer. 

“It’s of no use,” said the operator gloomily. 
“They may all be dead now.” 

Ned, too, felt the seriousness of the situation, 
but he was not going to give up so soon. Once 
more the instruments clicked. 

“It’s a message for you,” spoke the operator. 
Ned read the dots and dashes, for he and his 
chums could both send and receive wireless and 
ordinary telegraphic messages. 

“Go ahead,” wired Mr. Slade to his son. “We 
all send our best wishes to you boys. Do your 
best to see Mr. Jackson, Ned. Vitally necessary 
to rescue him, for our own sakes. My business is 
in very poor shape. I am ruined unless Mr. Jack- 
son lends me his aid and influence. Get to him 
if at all possible!” 

“And I will, too!” declared the merchant’s son 
with a grim tightening of his lips. 

He hurried back to where the Comet waited 
but the movement of a lever to launch her into 
space and off to the rescue. Briefly Ned told his 
chums of the message. 

“Are you all ready?” asked Mr. Durkin. 

“All ready,” replied Jerry. “Get aboard, Pro¬ 
fessor, we are going to start.” 


TO THE RESCUE 


175 

Everything had been done that human fore¬ 
sight could think of to make the rescue a success. 
Jerry took his position in the steering tower. 

Slowly he pulled the starting lever toward him. 
In another instant the Comet would dart forward. 
But, before the tall lad could pull the handle, a 
man pushed his way through the crowd, laid his 
hand on the rail of the aircraft and exclaimed: 

“I forbid this balloon to leave the grounds!” 

“Why?” demanded'Jerry, leaning out of the 
window of the pilot house. 

“Because IVe got an attachment against it for 
a thousand dollars, and it can’t go until that 
amount is paid to Mr. Silas Muggins for damage 
you did to his barn. You and your machine are 
in the grip of the law!” 


CHAPTER XXIII 


OVER THE OCEAN 

For a few moments after this unexpected an¬ 
nouncement neither of the motor boys knew what 
to say. Nor did Professor Snodgrass seem able 
to utter anything in keeping with the seriousness 
of the occasion. As for Mr. Durkin, and the offi¬ 
cers of the meet, who were anxious for our heroes 
to start on the rescue expedition, they gazed 
blankly at the sheriff’s officer, whom they cor¬ 
rectly guessed the man to be. 

“Do you mean that we can’t leave in our own 
motor-ship?” demanded Jerry, stepping out on 
deck. 

“That’s exactly what I mean,” was the reply. 
“I’m Deputy Sheriff Morton, and I’ve got an at¬ 
tachment on this airship, or whatever you call it. 
I’m in possession now, and I forbid you to leave 
this place with the ship,” saying which Mr. Mor¬ 
ton jumped aboard. 

“I guess you fellers will sing a different tune 
176 


OVER THE OCEAN 


* 77 

now!” exclaimed another voice, and pushing 
through the crowd came Mr. Muggins himself, a 
grim smile on his wrinkled features. “You 
thought you’d git ahead of me, sneakin’ off in 
th’ night, but I allowed as how you’d point fer 
this balloon fair. So I jest hitched up, went t’ th’ 
sheriff an’ swore out an attachment ag’in ye, an’ 
here I be. Ye don’t stir till ye pay my thousand 
dollars.” 

“But we don’t owe you a thousand dollars!” 
exclaimed Ned, to whom every moment of delay 
seemed an hour, so anxious was he to do some¬ 
thing to save his father’s business. 

“Ye damaged my barn that amount, an’ ye’ve 
got t’ pay it; ain’t they, Mr. Morton?” 

“That’s what th’ law says. I’m in possession,” 
and the sheriff’s deputy coolly took a seat in the 
cabin of the motor-ship, and looked through the 
opened windows at the crowd. There had been 
murmurs of indignation when Mr. Morton pre¬ 
vented the ship from leaving, but at this explana¬ 
tion several inquiries were made as to how the 
affair had originated. 

Jerry briefly explained the accident, stating that 
the barn was only slightly damaged, and he told 
of the shabby treatment accorded him and his 
chums by Mr. Muggins. 


178 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“But you don’t seem to understand the serious¬ 
ness of this, my dear man,” said Mr. Durkin to 
the farmer. “Are you aware that you may be the 
cause of a number of persons losing their lives in 
the balloon Manhattan , unless these lads are al¬ 
lowed to go to the rescue? Do you realize that?” 

“I don’t realize nothin’, but that I want a thou¬ 
sand dollars,” asserted Mr. Muggins. 

“No, I guess money is all you ever do realize,” 
murmured Bob. 

“I appeal to you,” pleaded Mr. Durkin, to the 
sheriff’s deputy. “Can’t you let this airship go? 
You will be responsible for the deaths of several 
people if you prevent the rescue.” 

“No use appealing to me,” declared Mr. Mor¬ 
ton. “I ain’t responsible for anything but my 
duty. I have to do as the law says, and as I’ve 
sworn to do. Pay the thousand dollars, and I’ll 
take off the legal attachment, and the craft can 
go. But I ain’t allowed to do otherwise.” 

Clearly he was within his rights. 

“If Mr. Muggins will release his claim tempo¬ 
rarily, I won’t say a word,” went on Mr Morton. 
“It’s up to him. I can vacate the attachment if he 
says so.” 

Well, I don’t say so!” cried the disagreeable 
man. “I know my rights an’ I’m goin’ t’ have 


OVER THE OCEAN 179 

’em I I want a thousand dollars fer damages t’ 
my barn!” 

There seemed to be no way of getting around 
it, and it looked as if the Comet would have to 
stay there, for the boys did not have a thousand 
dollars, and it would take some time to procure it 
from home, even if they were disposed to allow 
themselves to be swindled in that fashion. 

“Can’t we make a sudden dash, and get away?” 
whispered Ned to Jerry. “We could .take the 
sheriff’s man with us if we had to.” 

Jerry shook his head. 

“It would be too risky,” the tall lad decided. 
“He might draw a gun, and fire at the gas bag, 
or something. Besides it would mean an extra 
person on board, and if we rescue Mr. Jackson 
and his friend and crew, we’re going to be pretty 
well crowded as it is. I dare not chance it.” 

Gloom settled on Ned’s face. Bob did not 
know what to do. Jerry was at a loss. Profes¬ 
sor Snodgrass seemingly had put all thoughts of 
trouble out of his mind, and was poring over 
his no* --books. Suddenly, however, the little sci¬ 
entist looked up, and, addressing Mr. Morton, 
asked: 

“Couldn’t we give a bond of indemnity for 
double the amount of the damages—say for two 


180 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


thousand dollars? If we did that, guaranteeing 
the payment to Mr. Muggins of his claim when it 
was properly proved, couldn’t we be allowed to 
go?” 

“Yes, that might be done,” admitted the dep¬ 
uty. “I am authorized to accept a good bond. 
But who would give it?” 

“I would,” said Mr. Snodgrass eagerly. Hope 
showed on the faces of the motor boys. But the 
sheriff’s man shook his head. 

“I don’t know you. You’re a stranger to me,” 
he declared. “I don’t know whether you’re good 
for the bond or not.” 

“But I tell you that I am, and these boys know 
it,” said the scientist innocently. 

“That won’t do,” declared the officer. 

“How about my bond?” suddenly asked Mr. 
Durkin. “You know me. I’ll sign the bond for 
two thousand dollars so these boys can go to the 
rescue. Will you take it?” 

“Yes, I’ll take your bond,” agreed the officer. 

“Then come over to the office, and I’ll sign it!” 
went on Mr. Durkin eagerly. “There’s no time 
to lose. Get started, boys!” 

The deputy came slowly down from the air¬ 
ship. Mr. Muggins looked puzzled and disap- 


OVER THE OCEAN 181 

pointed. He did not understand the matter of 
the bond. He wanted the cash. 

“Now’s your time, Jerry!” exclaimed Ned sud¬ 
denly, as he saw the officer alight on the ground. 
“Start her up!” 

“Sure! Everything is clear!” added Bob eag¬ 
erly. 

Jerry nodded comprehendingly. With a last 
look to see that everything was in order he yanked 
the starting lever toward him. The Comet shot 
forward across the smooth ground on her bicycle 
wheels, for the boys were going to send her aloft 
as an aeroplane, saving their lifting gas for emer¬ 
gencies. Faster and faster the craft moved, the 
crowd parting to make way for her. Mr. Mug¬ 
gins saw his prize getting away from him. 

“Here!” he cried. “Here! Come back! I 
want my thousand dollars!” 

After the Comet he ran, his coat tails flying in 
the wind, while, over and over again, he cried: 

“Comeback! Comeback! I want my money! 
The money for my barn. Hi! Mr. Sheriff, them 
fellers is escapin’!” 

“Faster Jerry!” cried Ned. “He may catch us, 
and hang on!” 

“Not much!” remarked the tall lad grimly. 


*182 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

He put on more speed. Then, seeing that they 
were going fast enough to rise in the air, he pulled 
the elevating rudder lever. 

Up shot the Comet, while the crowd cheered. 
Up and up she went, leaving a much chagrined 
farmer running breathlessly and uselessly after it, 
meanwhile shaking his fists at our heroes in the 
air. 

“Off at last!” murmured Ned with a sigh of 
relief. “Off to the rescue!” 

“Yes, and I hope we’ll be in time to save them,” 
added Jerry somewhat solemnly. 

“I hope we get the singing fish,” spoke the 
professor. “That is,” he went on quickly, “after 
we save those poor people in the balloon!” 

Higher and higher into the air went the Comet . 
The tents and buildings in the aviation park 
looked like tiny structures now. Soon the grounds 
had disappeared from sight. The great city of 
New York and her surrounding boroughs loomed 
up in the distance. 

In a little while they were over the great city, 
but so high up that the boys could not see the 
wondering crowds which they knew must be 
watching their progress. 

“Over the Hudson,” remarked Bob, as they 
flew high above that historic river. Then they 


OVER THE OCEAN 183 

proceeded down toward the Battery, out over 
the Narrows, faster and ever faster, past the 
forts at the entrance to the harbor, out beyond 
Coney Island, leaving Atlantic Highlands on their 
right, out past Sandy Hook, on and on, the water 
widening more and more until finally Jerry an¬ 
nounced. 

“Over the ocean at last! Now, fellows, we’ve 
got to keep up our spunk and courage, and depend 
on ourselves. This is the riskiest trip we’ve ever 
undertaken. All hands keep a sharp watch out 
for the runaway balloon!” 

Onward they sped, and they little knew what 
was before them. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


IN THE HURRICANE 

“Well, now we’re well started, I think I’ll go 
and-” 

“See about dinner, or supper or breakfast, or 
something like that; eh, Chunky?” interrupted 
Ned with a laugh. 

“Hu? How’d you know?” asked the stout lad. 

“Oh, I could tell by the expression of your 
face,” remarked the merchant’s son. “When¬ 
ever you begin that way you can generally be de¬ 
pended on, Bob, to say something about eating.” 

“Aren’t you hungry, Jerry?” and the stout lad 
appealed for vindication to his tall chum. 

“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “Go ahead, Bob, 
and get something ready while Ned and I take 
a look around the machinery and see if it’s work¬ 
ing all right.” 

“I’ll wager Ned’s hungry, too, only he won’t 
admit it,” murmured the fat lad as he started 
toward the galley. 

They had been making good progress and it 
184 



IN THE HURRICANE 


185 

had been some time since they had eaten, for 
the alarming message about the unmanageable dir¬ 
igible balloon, and the excitement that followed, 
had driven all thoughts of meals from their 
minds. Now, however, in spite of Ned’s joking, 
everyone was glad Bob had mentioned eating. 

The Comet was sailing along over the ocean, 
not making any great speed, for Jerry and his 
chums had not yet decided what course to follow. 
It was rather like searching in the dark, for they 
did not know in which direction to look for the 
Manhattan . They could only cruise about, trust¬ 
ing to chance to put them on the right path. 

Jerry and Ned found that the machinery was 
working well, and the tall lad, on his return to 
the pilot house, ventured to speed up the motor 
slightly. Meanwhile Bob was busy with the meal, 
which would be a cross between a late dinner and 
an early supper. 

Professor Snodgrass had laid aside his note¬ 
books, and had put away his specimen boxes. 
Now, with a small but powerful telescope he was 
seated on the forward deck of the motor-ship, 
eagerly scanning the ocean below him for a sight 
of the flying singing fish. 

“Do you expect to find it so near land, Profes¬ 
sor?” asked Ned. 


186 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“No, hardly, yet I must not let a chance escape 
me. Even if I don’t get the fish I want right 
away, I may see some other specimen I need. 
You can descend whenever you want to, can’t 
you?” 

“I suppose so, but you’d better talk to Jerry 
about that part of it.” 

The professor lost no time in interviewing the 
tall lad, for he wanted to be ready to have the 
Comet drop to the surface of the ocean at a 
moment’s notice, in case he saw a specimen he 
desired to catch. 

“Yes, we can go down almost any time except 
when it’s too rough,” said Jerry. “In fact, I was 
thinking of going down shortly to see how the 
hydroplanes worked on salt water. They ought 
to do better than in fresh, as salt water is more 
buoyant. We’ll go down as soon as we have 
something to eat.” 

Perhaps the professor can be excused for hur¬ 
rying through with his meal, as he was anxious to 
get down to the surface of the sea. Jerry, too, 
wondered how his new attachment would work 
when there was a swell on, for, up to now, he had 
only tested the hydroplanes on comparatively 
smooth water. 

“Well, here we go,” he announced, when, after 


IN THE HURRICANE 187 

getting up from the table, they had all gathered 
in the pilot house ready for the descent. “Ned, 
you take charge of the air rudder, will you? And 
Bob, you stand here ready to throw in the gears 
of the water propeller when I give the word. I’m 
going to stand by the hydroplane lever.” 

“Is there anything I can do?” asked the pro¬ 
fessor eagerly. “I’d like to help.” 

“Oh, I guess we can manage,” replied Jerry. 
“Pull the depressing handle, Ned.” 

The merchant’s son yanked the lever toward 
him. Almost instantly the Comet pointed her 
nose toward the ocean that rolled below them. 
The boys were now practically out of sight of 
land. 

Professor Snodgrass, seeing that he could be of 
no service, again took up his telescope to scan 
the water for a possible sight of some fish speci¬ 
men, though he did not hope to so soon get the 
prize he sought. 

“We’re almost down,” murmured Ned, who 
was keeping watch through a glass window in the 
floor of the pilot house. 

“Yes,” agreed Jerry. “Now, Ned, stand 
ready to haul up on the bicycle wheels when I give 
the word.” 

The three boys were on the alert. Would the 


188 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 


new attachment work on the ocean? They were 
all anxious to know. 

“Now, Bob and Ned!” called Jerry suddenly. 

Ned hauled up the bicycle wheels, which were 
on jointed arms. Bob threw the gears of the 
water propeller into mesh, while Jerry lowered 
the toggle-jointed arms to which were attached 
the hydroplanes. 

Down upon the surface of the ocean settled 
the Comet, and then, as Jerry started the motor 
which revolved the water propeller, the craft 
darted forward with an easy motion like some 
graceful yacht. 

“How about it?” asked Bob eagerly. 

“Couldn’t be better,” declared Jerry. “The 
hydroplanes work as well on the ocean as they did 
on the lake. Boys, it’s a great success. Now 
if we find Mr. Jackson and his friends we can 
rescue them in the air or on the water!” 

They moved along for a mile or more upon the 
surface of the sea. Of course their progress was 
not as smooth as in the air, for there was a roll¬ 
ing, heaving motion to the ocean waves. But as 
our heroes were used to travel in a big motor- 
boat, they did not mind the swell. 

Professor Snodgrass did not see his singing 


IN THE HURRICANE 189 

fish, nor did he have great hopes that he would. 
He used a small net which was sunk to some little 
depth by means of weights, but he did not get 
any valuable specimens. Only one small fish re¬ 
warded his efforts. 

“I don’t care for it myself,” he said, “but 
I have a friend who will like it for his collec¬ 
tion,” and he put it into a jar of water to 
save it. 

As the afternoon was waning Jerry decided to 
ascend' into the air again, and so, starting the 
larger propellers, in order to get more speed, 
they mounted upward, and once more were on 
their way, searching for the disabled balloon. 

But the welcome sight of the Manhattan did 
not greet them, and darkness was fast coming on. 
The great searchlight was kindled and with the 
glowing beam shooting ahead of them they con¬ 
tinued on through space. 

All night they travelled, one or the other of 
the boys being on the watch all the while, search¬ 
ing the heavens for a glimpse of a moving light 
that would indicate the presence of the craft they 
sought. But morning came with no success. 

“Do you know what I think we ought to do,” 
spoke Bob, after breakfast. 


190 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“What; eat again?” asked Ned, with a wink 
at Jerry. 

“No. Now cut out that joking, can’t you? I 
think we ought to go higher up, say a couple of 
miles. The air will be clearer, and we can see 
farther.” 

“Good idea, Chunky!” declared Jerry. “We’ll 
do it. Maybe we can see the balloon, then.” 

The motor was speeded up, and in a short time, 
with her elevating rudders tilted skyward, the 
Comet was climbing higher into the air. When 
the barograph measured fourteen thousand feet 
height Jerry sent the craft along at that level, 
while all on board peered eagerly about for the 
Manhattan. 

They had been travelling on this way for per¬ 
haps two hours, and Jerry was wondering how 
far they might venture out over the ocean, when 
Ned asked: 

“Why are you speeding up the motor? Aren’t 
we going fast enough?” 

“I haven’t put on any more speed,” was the 
reply. 

“Look at the tractometer,” was Ned’s reply, 
and glancing at the instrument Jerry saw, with a 
start, that they were going about seventy-five miles 
an hour. 


IN THE HURRICANE 


191 

“That’s odd,” he remarked, “the motor is only 
set for about forty.” 

“What can be the matter?” asked Bob. 

Even as he spoke they noticed that the needle 
of the dial on the tractometer slowly swung 
around until it pointed to ninety miles. At the 
same time they were aware that there was a 
curious humming sound in the air outside. 

“We must have struck a swiftly-moving cur¬ 
rent of air,” spoke Jerry. 

Once more they looked at the tractometer. It 
now registered a hundred miles an hour, and the 
sound outside increased to a roar. 

Suddenly the Comet gave a sickening dive, 
and almost turned turtle. Only the new fin-keels 
Jerry had put on, and the automatic equilibrium 
machine, saved them from being turned over. 

“What’s the matter?” cried Professor Snod¬ 
grass, coming into the steering tower. 

“It must be an upper-air hurricane!” gasped 
Jerry. “The same kind that caught the Manhat¬ 
tan! We’re in its power!” 

The wind was now howling and roaring out¬ 
side the motor-ship, which plunged and careened 
in the air like a ship in a storm on the ocean. 
Faster and faster she scudded along in the gale, 


192 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

more rapidly than her motors could take her, even 
at top speed. 

“We must go down!” gasped Jerry hoarsely. 
“Go down, or we may be ripped all apart!’’ And 
he sprang to the lever of the depressing rudder. 


CHAPTER XXV 


A CLEW 

For a few moments it seemed to the Motor 
Boys that the end of everything had come. It 
appeared impossible that their comparatively frail 
craft could weather the storm in the very heart of 
which she was being hurled along. Now tilted 
with her bow toward the earth; again, almost 
standing on her tail rudders; now on her port 
beam, and again on the starboard—the gallant 
Comet struggled on in the grip of the hurricane. 

“Lend a hand, fellows!” gasped Jerry, as he 
tried in vain to bring the lever of the depressing 
rudder toward him. “Lend a hand! The wind 
pressure is so strong that I can’t work this alone.” 

Bob and Ned sprang to their chum’s aid, and 
even then the task was almost more than that 
to which their combined strength was equal. Pro¬ 
fessor Snodgrass, seeing their trouble, was about 
to give them some assistance, when an instant’s 
lull in the gale so relieved the pressure on the 
193 


194 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

planes that they were able to bring the lever to 
the right position. 

“Jove, but it blows!” cried Ned. “It’s a won¬ 
der it didn’t rip off the wings, rudders and every¬ 
thing else.” 

“Lucky thing for us they’re of double 
strength,” added Bob, for with the remodeling of 
the motorship, the wing-planes and rudders had 
been strengthened. 

“I guess we’ll be all right, now,” observed 
Jerry. “We must have gotten into the hurricane 
by coming up so high. I’ll stay at a lower level 
after this.” 

“Do you suppose it’s the same gale that Mr. 
Jackson and the others were caught in?” asked 
Ned. 

“Shouldn’t wonder a bit,” was the reply of the 
tall lad. “And if they’re in it, and it’s still blow¬ 
ing at this rate, they’ll be carried half-way across 
the Atlantic before we can catch them.” 

“My gracious!’ exclaimed Professor Snod¬ 
grass, “half-way across the Atlantic! That will 
be just the thing for me. I can get my singing 
fish then.” 

“I hope we don’t have to go that far to rescue 
them,” spoke Jerry. “But if we don’t soon get 
out of this wind we may not get anywhere.” 


A CLEW 


195 

“We don’t seem to be going down out of it 
very fast,” observed Ned, with a glance at the 
barograph. It still registered nearly two miles 
above sea level. 

“That’s so,” agreed Jerry with a look at the 
instrument. “I wonder if anything could have 
happened to the depressing rudder. Maybe it 
doesn’t work, or it may be disconnected from the 
lever. In that case-” 

“I’ll go outside and look,” volunteered Ned, 
clinging to the side wall of the pilot house in which 
they all were. 

“No, I’ll go,” decided Jerry. “It’s risky, 
and-” 

“You want to take all the risk,” interrupted 
Bob. “Let me go. I’m shorter than you, and the 
wind won’t have so much surface to blow on. 
I’ll go.” 

It did seem wise to let the smaller lad venture 
outside on the stern deck, and inspect the rudder, 
and after some argument Jerry consented to this. 
By going out of the rear door of the main cabin, 
Bob would, in a measure, be sheltered by the deck 
structures. 

The force of the gale may be imagined when 
it is said that as Bob stepped out he felt himself 
fairly forced down toward the deck, as if some 




196 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

giant hand had pushed him. The power of the 
wind was terrific, and, realizing this, the stout lad 
got down as low as possible, and fairly crawled on 
his hands and knees to a place where he could 
see the rudder. 

“It’s there, all right,” he reported pantingly to 
his chums, when he had worked his way back to 
the cabin. 

“Then why don’t we go down?” asked Ned. 
“Is it set to send us down, Chunky?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then I don’t see-” 

“I believe it’s because the wind is so powerful 
that we can’t cut our way downward through the 
level strata of the hurricane,” was Jerry’s opinion. 

“What do you mean by that?” asked Bob. 

“It’s this way, and I think Jerry is right,” spoke 
Mr. Snodgrass. “We’re sailing along on an al¬ 
most solidified bank of air, which is compressed 
by great pressure. To go below, into an area 
where there is no storm, it is like cutting through 
a layer of thick ice to get to the water beneath. 
But the air buoys us up so that we’re having diffi¬ 
culties.” 

“What are we going to do?” inquired Ned 
anxiously. 



A CLEW i 97 

“We’ve got to do something, that’s evident,” 
responded the tall lad, as a sudden burst of the 
storm once more nearly made the Comet turn 
turtle. “We’ve got to get out of this.” 

Jerry went to the engine-room, and called to 
Bob and Ned to accompany him. He began ad¬ 
justing the machinery. 

“What are you going to do?” asked Ned. 

“Key up the motor,” explained the tall lad. 
“We’ve got to try and beat this wind, and the 
only way we can do it is to get up all the speed 
possible, and cut down through the air. Bob, 
hand me that monkey-wrench. Ned, you tighten 
up the intake valves, and open the outlets on the 
port cylinders. I’ll set the electric generator to 
give a hotter spark and one at shorter intervals. 
We’ve got to go down!” 

The need was increasing every moment, for the 
hurricane, instead of dying out, was getting worse 
every second. 

Soon the motor was working at twice its for¬ 
mer speed. The great propellers could be ob¬ 
served whirling around with terrific power. Now, 
if ever, the Comet should go down. Anxiously 
they watched the needle of the barograph. It 
remained stationary for a few minutes, during 
which the craft trembled from end to end with 


198 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

the awful strain. Then the pointer swung slowly 
around. 

“There she goes!” cried Ned in delight. 

“Yes, we’re going down,” observed Jerry, with 
a sigh of relief. 

“And none too soon,” added Bob, as another 
gust sent the motorship on end. 

It was a struggle between the forces of nature 
and those of man, and the machinery won. 
Slowly the, airship was forced down on a slant 
until, finally piercing through the strata that repre¬ 
sented the terrific wind, she came to a calm region 
about two thousand feet above the sea. Then, 
bringing her to a level keel, Jerry sent the craft 
onward. 

“And not a sign of the Manhattan ” remarked 
Ned, a little later, when the motor had been 
slowed down to its usual speed. 

“No,” spoke Jerry, “but the search isn’t over 
yet. I’m sure we’re going in the right direction, 
though. The hurricane did us that much service, 
for it’s evident that the missing balloon was 
caught just as we were, only they haven’t powerful 
enough machinery to get out of it. Now we’ll 
keep on at this level, and in this direction.” 

Nothing developed the rest of that day. They 
flew onward slowly, taking turns scanning the air 


A CLEW igg 

about them through a powerful telescope for a 
sight of the dirigible containing the man whose 
aid was so greatly needed by Mr. Slade. But the 
Manhattan was not seen. 

At night they set the powerful searchlight 
aglow, hoping that it might be observed by those 
whom they sought, and who possibly could send 
out a signal, indicating their position. But no sig¬ 
nal came. Thus two more days passed, and the 
Comet at times was sent about, back over the 
air-line over which they had come, for Jerry 
feared they might have passed the missing balloon 
in the night. 

Several times they dropped to the surface of 
the ocean, to give Professor Snodgrass a chance 
to use his net in an endeavor to get the singing 
fish. But his efforts were unsuccessful. 

“It seems as if there was a hoodoo on this trip,” 
spoke Ned gloomily, one morning as they were 
sailing along. “We missed Mr. Jackson at every 
point, and now no one knows where he is.” 

“Oh, we’ll find him yet,” said Jerry cheerfully. 
“I tell you what let’s do: go down on the hydro¬ 
planes and fish! Some fresh fish would go good 
for dinner; eh, Chunky?” 

“Sure. I’ll fry ’em brown in corn-meal. Send 
her down, Jerry.” 


200 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

The Comet was once more dropped to the sur¬ 
face of the sea, and the boys got out their lines. 
They had pretty good luck, and a fish dinner was 
a certainty. Of course, the professor only tried 
for his prize, but he did not get it. 

Bob was just landing a large fish, and was 
giving all his energy to it, when the attention of 
Ned and Jerry was attracted to a large steamer, 
which was rapidly approaching them. They had 
not noticed her creeping up on the horizon. 

“She seems to be heading this way,” observed 
Ned. 

“Yes; maybe she wants to see what sort of a 
craft we are, fellows,” said Jerry. 

Suddenly there came a puff of smoke, a dull 
flash, and a booming sound came over the water. 

“They’re firing at us!” cried Bob, who had 
landed his fish. 

“No; I think it’s a signal,” remarked Jerry, 
who had observed closely, and had not seen a 
projectile bounding over the wave crests. “They 
may take us for a wreck, and want us to know 
that we’re going to be saved.” 

This, as they learned later, was the reason for 
the shot. On came the steamer, and soon it was 
within hailing distance. The rails were lined 
with curious passengers, many of whom were tak- 


A CLEW 201 

ing snap-shots of the Comet, as she rested lightly 
on the water. On the steamer’s bridge were the 
captain and a number of officers. 

“What sort of a craft are you, and what are 
you doing?” came the hail through a megaphone. 

“The Comet, of Cresville,” returned Jerry. 

“Where are you bound?” 

‘We don’t know. We’re looking for a dis¬ 
abled balloon.” 

“Do you need any help?” 

It was evident that Jerry’s answers were not 
well understood since before he could reply to 
the question about aid, a small boat was lowered, 
and came rapidly toward the Comet. 

“Do you want to be taken off?” asked the mate 
in charge. 

“No; we’re all right,” was Jerry’s reply. 
“We’re going on through the air soon. We just 
came down here to catch some fish. But have 
you seen anything of the balloon Manhattan, 
which ought to be somewhere out to sea?” 

The mate had not, nor had the sailors, and it 
was evident that they hardly knew what to believe 
about the Comet. Seeing their incredulity, Jerry 
started the air-propellers, and, getting a flying 
start, mounted up into the sky, circling over and 
around the steamer. 


202 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

There were cries of wonder at this, and a round 
of applause from the passengers and crew. Then 
the boys dropped back to the ocean again on the 
hydroplanes, and, in response to a request from 
the captain, Jerry and Bob went aboard the Cin¬ 
nabar, leaving Ned and Mr. Snodgrass on the 
Comet. 

Jerry explained to an admiring and wondering 
throng the object of their voyage through the air. 

“But we can’t get a sight of the Manhattan” 
he concluded, “and we want to very much, for we 
wish to rescue the people aboard her, and it is 
very necessary for us to get Mr. Jackson’s signa¬ 
ture to certain papers.” 

“Well, that’s the greatest stunt I ever heard 
of,” declared the captain. “Using one airship to 
go to the rescue of another. But can’t you pick 
her up by wireless?” 

“We’ve tried, but none of our signals are an¬ 
swered,” replied Bob. 

“Their apparatus may be disabled,” said Jerry. 
“Well, if you haven’t sighted her, we’ll have to 
keep on hunting.” 

“Wait a minute,” suggested the commander. 
“I’ll have an inquiry made among the crew and 
passengers. None of my officers have reported 
seeing anything like a runaway balloon, but it’s 


A CLEW 


203 

just possible that some one else may have sighted 
it, and said nothing about it.” 

A steward was sent to make a general inquiry, 
and, while waiting, Jerry explained the nature of 
the Comet, and how she worked. 

“Well?” asked the captain, as the steward re¬ 
turned, “did you learn anything?” 

“Yes, sir,” was the unexpected answer; “last 
night, when Lars Porsen had the bow lookout, he 
said he saw, about midnight, several lights, close 
together in the sky, quite a distance up. They 
were moving rapidly, and, all at once, they seemed 
to come down toward the sea. He thought they 
were shooting stars, until he heard voices crying. 
Then he got frightened, being of a superstitious 
nature, sir, and he decided not to report it. But 
he thinks now, that it may have been the missing 
airship being blown along, sir.” 

“That’s her, without a doubt!” cried Jerry ex¬ 
citedly. “In what direction was she?” 

“A little to the north-east of here,” replied the 
steward, “and she was making rather a northerly 
course, according to Porsen.” 

“Then we’ve been on the wrong track!” cried 
the tall lad. “We’ll change our direction! Come 
on, Bob! I believe we have a clew at last!” 


CHAPTER XXVI 


THE WRECK 

Despite the invitation of the captain to remain 
longer aboard the Cinnabar, Jerry and Bob in¬ 
sisted on going back at once to the floating Comet . 
Lars Porsen was sent for and questioned, but he 
could add little to what he had told the steward. 
There seemed no doubt but that he had sighted 
the missing Manhattan . 

“This will be good news for Ned,” remarked 
Jerry, as he and his chum were being rowed back 
to their air-craft, and indeed the merchant’s son 
was delighted with it. He had begun to give up 
hope, and when he thought of his father waiting 
for the aid of Mr. Jackson, fighting off his relent¬ 
less business enemies, the heart of Ned was sad. 
Now he brightened up. 

“We’ll get right on the trail!” he cried. “Come 
on, Jerry, speed the Comet up as fast as she’ll 
go.” 

“Yes, for if any one is left alive on the balloon, 


204 


THE WRECK 


205 

they must need help by this time,” observed the 
tall lad. “They may have given up hope of ever 
being rescued.” 

“I hope they have plenty to eat,” remarked 
Bob, with a tragic air, as he thought of the well- 
filled larders of the Comet . 

“Oh, you cannibal!” cried Ned, as he hastened 
here and there, helping Jerry get ready to send the 
motorship on her way again. 

The passengers and crew of the Cinnabar 
cheered as the gallant little craft left the waves 
and flew into the air. Then, circling about, and 
dipping the airship down in place of lowering any 
colors, in response to three hoarse blasts from the 
steamer’s whistle, Jerry sent the Comet off in the 
direction indicated by the sailor. 

Soon the smoke of the big vessel was left far 
astern, and once more our friends were peering 
eagerly forward through the telescope for a sight 
of the disabled balloon. 

Bob prepared the fish they had caught in so 
many different ways, and so often, that Ned and 
Jerry declared they never wanted to see a hook 
or line again. But they also had good meals of 
other viands, for Bob gave his whole attention to 
the task of cooking. Indeed, for the next few 
days there was little else to do. They kept on, 


206 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

moving slowly, so as not to miss the big balloon, 
and travelling a few miles on either side of the 
direct course, pursuing a sort of zig-zag way, in 
order to cover more space. 

Professor Snodgrass had his note-books all 
written up—he had classified and arranged all his 
specimens, and then he sighed for new ones. But 
none was to be had, for they were now well out to 
sea, beyond the limits of birds or insects, and the 
water below them offered the only dwelling-place 
of specimens. As they did not want to lose time, 
they did not go down again for some time. 

One evening, after an uneventful day, when 
their eyes ached with the strain of looking in vain 
for the balloon, the three boys were sitting on the 
forward deck, talking over matters connected with 
their trip. The automatic steering apparatus had 
been set, and there was no need of any one being 
in the pilot house. 

Suddenly Jerry, who had been listening to some 
banter between Bob and Ned, jumped to his feet, 
exclaiming: 

“I smell smoke! There must be something 
afire!” 

“So do I!” added Ned. 

It was enough to cause intense alarm to all of 


THE WRECK 


207 

them, for a fire on board the airship, with the 
tanks filled with the lifting gas, was a terror most 
to be dreaded. 

Fairly running, Jerry made his way back to the 
stern, followed by his two chums. The smell of 
smoke became stronger as they neared the after¬ 
deck, and, once they were beyond the deck super¬ 
structures, they caught fleeting glimpses of darting 
tongues of fire. 

“Quick! Bring the extinguishers! They’re in 
the main cabin!” cried Jerry. Bob and Ned 
started back after them, while the tall lad kept 
on, to discover the location of the fire, which 
seemed to be in the very stern of the craft. 

Jerry saw some dark object, from which the 
smoke seemed to be coming, and in the interior of 
which were seen the flames. He was about to 
rush at it, and toss it overboard, thinking fire 
might have been started by spontaneous combus¬ 
tion in some box or crate, when Bob and Ned ran 
up with chemical extinguishers. 

“There it is!” cried Jerry, pointing to the fire. 
“Play the hose there!” 

Suddenly there was a yell, and from the midst 
of the dark object, which the boys could now see 
was a canvas shelter, like a) small tent, there 


208 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 
sprang Professor Snodgrass, all dripping from 
the chemicals. 

“Here! What’s the matter?” he shouted. 
“Stop! You’re drowning me!” 

“We’re trying to put out the fire!” yelled Jerry. 
“What were you doing there? Are you burned? 
Did the smoke make you unconscious?” 

“Fire! There’s no fire!” cried the little scien¬ 
tist, as he wiped the trickling chemicals from his 
face. 

“No fire! Why the smoke?” asked Ned. 

“And the flames!” added Bob. 

“And the smell!” came from Jerry. 

“It was no fire,” went on the scientist, as he 
kicked over the canvas shelter. “I had just made 
a little smudge on a piece of sheet iron. I was 
smoking one of the fish I had caught, to preserve 
the specimen. I built a fire out here on deck, 
where there would be no danger, and put certain 
chemicals on it to preserve the fish skin. That’s 
what made the smell.” 

“It certainly smelled , all right,” grimly re¬ 
marked Jerry. “Are you sure there’s no fire on 
the deck boards, professor?” 

“Not a bit. Oh, I took good care there would 
be no danger. I put a pan of water on deck, and 


THE WRECK 


209 

on top of that I laid some sheet-iron. Then I 
made a little fire of wood and old rags on the iron, 
sprinkled the chemicals in the flames, and held the 
fish over them. I’m sorry if I caused you any 
fright.” 

“Well you did—a little,” admitted Jerry, “but 
I guess-” 

“I more than paid for it,” interrupted the scien¬ 
tist with a smile. “However, it’s all done. I just 
got through as you squirted the chemicals on me.” 

As he had said, he had taken precautions 
against the little blaze spreading, and now the 
charred wood and rags on the sheet of iron were 
dropped into the ocean. 

“You never can tell what he’s going to do 
next,” complained Jerry to his chums, with a 
smile, as they went into the cabin. 

All the next day they watched. Several times 
they mistook low-lying clouds, or a dark bit of 
mist for the balloon they sought, but, on increas¬ 
ing their speed, and hastening toward it, they saw 
their error. 

It was toward the close of the afternoon when 
Bob, who was on the lookout in the bow, cried: 

“Hi, fellows, here’s something!” 

Jerry and Ned hastened forward. There, 



210 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

floating on the ocean, which was about a thousand 
feet below them, was a dark mass, slowly rising 
and falling on the swell. 

“The balloon! Wrecked!” cried Ned. “We’re 
too late!” 

“It certainly is some sort of a wreck,” agreed 
Jerry, as he adjusted the telescope. He took a 
long look through the glass. Then he shook his 
head. 

“I can’t make it out on account of the haze,” he 
said. “We’ll go down to it. Speed up the motor, 
Ned.” 


CHAPTER XXVII 


ATTACKED BY A WHALE 

Rapidly the motorship shot downward to the 
surface of the sea, landing on her hydroplanes. 
She was about half a mile from the dark object 
that floated on the water, a confused mass of 
twisted iron, splintered wood and flapping canvas. 
Jerry had not dared drop any closer to it, lest a 
sudden gust of wind might carry the Comet 
against the sharp points and damage her. 

“What do you make it out to be?” asked Ned, 
as they neared the wreck, the Comet being sent 
ahead by her water propeller. 

“It isn’t the balloon, that’s sure,” declared 
Jerry. “That is, unless it’s all twisted together.” 

“No; I don’t believe it’s the Manhattan” 
agreed Bob. 

Ned certainly hoped that it was not, for that 
would mean the end of his efforts to find Mr. Jack- 
son alive. As they drew nearer to the floating 
mass, they saw that it was the part of some sailing 


211 


212 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

craft, which had come to grief through stress of 
wind and wave. 

“A derelict,” remarked Professor Snodgrass, 
as the Comet came to a stop not far from it. “A 
floating derelict, and a great menace to navigation. 
If some steamer were to hit that in a fog, or on a 
dark night, it might send her to the bottom. I 
wish we could go aboard.” 

“Why?” asked Ned. 

“Because I might get some specimens on her. 
Perhaps some of the crew, before they abandoned 
her, might have had some strange birds, animals 
or insects from the tropics, and if they were left 
behind, as they probably were, they would prove 
to be a valuable addition to my collection.” 

“I’m afraid we can’t go on her unless we 
swim,” said Jerry. “We have a small boat 
aboard, but the sea is a little too rough to permit 
its use to-day.” 

“Circle around the wreck, and see if we can 
discover her name,” suggested Ned. “Perhaps 
there might be a dog or cat aboard, that we could 
rescue.” 

Slowly the Comet made a course around the 
wreck, and far enough away so that the wash of 
the sea would not ram her up against the aban¬ 
doned vessel’s sides. The boys could discover no 


ATTACKED BY A WHALE 


213 

name on the derelict. Either it had been worn 
away by the action of the water, or that part of 
the ship where it should have appeared was ripped 
off. It seemed as if the wreck had been aban¬ 
doned some time ago. 

There was no sign of life aboard her, though 
Mr. Snodgrass was sure he could have at least 
discovered some stray bugs had he been given a 
chance to search, but it could not be done. 

“Well, we’ll get under way again, I guess,” ob¬ 
served Jerry. “Perhaps to-morrow we’ll have 
better luck.” 

“If we don’t have some luck pretty soon, we’ll 
have to go back, I suppose,” remarked Ned 
gloomily. 

“We have enough to eat for three weeks 
more,” put in Bob. 

“Yes, trust you for that, Chunky; but how 
about gasoline and oil?” 

“Oh, we have enough for another week, any¬ 
how, and perhaps longer,” declared Jerry. 
“We’re not going to give up the search yet, Ned. 
We’ll find Mr. Jackson, and save your father’s 
business.” 

“I hope so,” murmured the merchant’s son. 

Professor Snodgrass had improved the time by 
getting out his net and dragging the sea for fish 


214 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

specimens. He caught several varieties, but none 
that he wanted. The singing flying-fish was not 
among those in his net. 

He was about to pull it in, when he saw a long, 
dark shadow moving slowly along on the port side 
of the Comet . The professor knew the shape at 
once. 

“Here, boys!” he called. “See this monster 
shark!” 

It was indeed a large specimen of the tiger of 
the seas, and as it moved slowly along, its horrid 
eyes seeking some prey, the boys could not repress 
a shudder of fear. 

“If he ever got after us!” exclaimed Bob. 
“Ugh! Excuse me!” 

“Same here,” agreed Ned. 

“There’s another coming up,” observed Jerry, 
pointing to a shadow farther out. “That’s big¬ 
ger than the first one.” 

Slowly another great form approached the 
Comet. Then the boys saw that there were two 
parts to the second shadow. 

It’s a whale and her calf!” exclaimed the pro¬ 
fessor. Boys, you are looking at a very rare 
sight. Make the most of it!” 

“It will be a good thing if they don’t make 


ATTACKED BY A WHALE 215 

mince-meat of us,” remarked Ned grimly. u I’d 
hate to fall overboard now.” 

As he spoke, there was a sudden swirl in the 
water, a smother of foam, and then a tinge of 
red. 

“Look!” cried Bob. “The shark has attacked 
the whale!” 

“Not the whale, but the little calf!” yelled 
Jerry. “Why, the shark has bitten it almost in 
two pieces! We’d better get away from here, or 
there’ll be a fight between those monsters and 
some waves that will swamp us!” 

“That’s right,” agreed the professor. “The 
shark has killed the whale’s calf. Now there will 
be trouble. There’s nothing worse than a whale 
bereft of her young. Better go up, Jerry.” 

The lad ran to the pilot house to start the air- 
propellers. He had hardly reached the place, 
however, before a cry from his companions caused 
him to look back. The whale mother had fairly 
leaped from the water, falling back with a tre¬ 
mendous splash that raised a series of big waves 
which rocked the Comet to and fro. 

“Get up! Get up!” begged Bob and Ned, run¬ 
ning toward Jerry. “We’ll be swamped!” 

Jerry grasped the starting lever, but, for some 


216 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

reason, the motor failed to respond. He shoved 
it back and forth and vibrated the spark ad¬ 
juster. But the air-propellers refused to turn. 

“Start the water-screw, and get as far off as 
we can,” advised Ned. 

“You do it, and I’ll work at this lever,” called 
Jerry. 

As he spoke, he glanced back, and his cry of 
horror caused his companions to look where he 
pointed. Some distance off, and coming forward 
with increasing speed, was the whale, headed 
right for the floating motorship. 

“She’s going to attack us!” cried Ned. “She 
thinks our craft killed her calf, and she’s going 
to ram us! Look out!” 

Maddened by the loss of her offspring, the 
gigantic whale, as Ned had said, was about to 
attack the Comet, which was almost at the mercy 
of the leviathan, now that the air-propellers re¬ 
fused to operate. It was a critical moment for 
our heroes. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


THE SINGING FISH 

On came the whale. Every moment seemed to 
increase the terrific speed of the maddened ani¬ 
mal. Frantically the boys labored to get out of 
the way, but it was almost impossible until the 
air-propellers should start, and send the Comet 
skimming over the surface. 

“Have you the water-screw going?” called 
Jerry to Ned. 

“Yes, and it’s speeded up as high as it will go! 
Can’t you get that motor started?” 

“Can’t seem to.” 

“Hurry! Hurry!” yelled Bob. “She’ll ram us 
in another second or two!” 

“We’ll be destroyed if she does!” muttered 
Professor Snodgrass. “Oh, my precious collec¬ 
tion! My valuable specimens! What shall I 
do?” 

He rushed here and there, trying to gather all 
his boxes in one pile, and then to take them under 
his arms, but they continually fell out. 

“It’s no use!” cried Jerry, at length, “I can’t 
217 


218 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

get this motor started. Get ready to jump, when 
the whale hits us! Grab life-preservers—make 
for the wreck and cling to that, for there’ll be 
nothing left of the Comet!” 

He abandoned his attempt at the air-propeller 
motor. The water-screw was sending the craft 
ahead at fairly good speed, but nothing to the 
progress made by the whale. She was almost 
upon them. 

The boys made ready to jump, preparing to 
abandon their beloved craft, when a curious thing 
happened. In front of the oncoming whale was a 
big mound of green water, piled up by the enor¬ 
mous blunt head of the leviathan, just as in front 
of some blunt-nosed scow there is a wave. In 
this case, such was the speed of the animal, that 
the wave actually hid the big head from sight. 

And it was this advancing wall of water which 
saved the lives of our friends and prevented the 
destruction of the motorship. For, so light and 
bouyant was the craft, that as the swell of the 
mound of water, which was in front of the whale, 
reached the Comet, she was lifted up like a chip 
on the crest of a billow. 

Up and up she went, higher and higher on the 
swell, until in the excess of her fury, the whale 
brought about the very opposite to that which she 


THE SINGING FISH 


219 

intended, for, instead of ramming the strange 
craft, she passed completely under it, harmlessly. 

For a few seconds the boys and the professor 
could not realize their marvellous escape. Then 
they understood, and uttered a cheer of congratu¬ 
lation. 

“She’s passed under us!” cried Jerry. 

“There she is, away over there!” shouted Bob, 
pointing to where the whale’s progress could be 
observed by the mound of water. 

“She’ll be back as soon as she realizes her mis¬ 
take,” predicted Ned, and, even at that moment, 
the big creature began to turn, ready to return to 
the attack. But now, most unexpectedly, as Jerry 
rushed back to the starting lever of the main mo¬ 
tor, the machine worked like a charm. There 
was a hum and a buzz, the propellers whirred 
around, and, skimming lightly over the surface of 
the ocean, the Comet suddenly arose, and shot 
into the air. And not a moment too soon, either, 
for, as her hydroplanes left the surface, dripping 
salty drops, the whale passed under again, one 
plane scraping her scale-covered back. 

“Safe!” cried Jerry, and there was a breath of 
relief from all on board. 

“Look!” yelled Ned, pointing down. “The 
whale and the shark are fighting!” 


220 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

The two monsters of the deep were in a battle 
to the death, the whale seeking to kill the gigantic 
shark by a blow from her tail, and the sea-tiger 
trying to bite the leviathan as it had the baby 
whale. How the battle terminated, the boys 
could not determine, as their swiftly-moving craft 
took them beyond the scene. Once more they 
were sailing the air. 

“And I didn’t get my singing-fish, after all,” 
sighed Mr. Snodgrass. 

“We were lucky to get off with our lives,” re¬ 
marked Jerry. “But you’ll have another chance 
for your prize, professor.” 

It soon got dark, and once more, with her 
searchlight aglow, the Comet sped on through the 
night. As before, the boys took turns looking for 
any strange lights which might indicate the bal¬ 
loon of which they were in search. But morning 
came with no sign of her. 

It was a calm day, and, after travelling for 
some miles in the new direction, and seeing noth¬ 
ing, Jerry yielded to the requests of the scientist, 
and again let the craft float on the hydroplanes. 

“For we are now over the region where I ex¬ 
pect to find the singing-fish,” said the professor, 
“and it would be a pity not to try to get it.” 

The boys thought so, too, and though they 


THE SINGING FISH 


221 


were anxious to keep on with their quest, they 
could not refuse to give the professor a little 
time. He used his net for several hours, bringing 
up many strange creatures of the sea. Some of 
these he kept for himself, or for brother scien¬ 
tists, but the odd fish was not among them. 

Jerry was about to tell Mr. Snodgrass that 
they could not spare more time, when the scien¬ 
tist, who had his net overboard, suddenly called: 

“Oh, boys, I’ve got something big! Help me 
pull it in!” He was laboring at the rope, and 
evidently something was in the net, for there was 
a turmoil in the water, and the professor nearly 
went overboard. 

“Quick! Help him!” yelled Jerry. 

Bob and Ned sprang to the aid of the little 
man, and, by a strong pull, had the net on deck. 
It contained but one fish, a large one, that flopped 
violently about the deck, as if in protest at the 
treatment it had received. 

But, at the sight of it, and of two fins that 
looked something like wings, the professor uttered 
a joyful shout. 

“It’s the singing-fish! The singing flying- 
fish!” he cried. “At last I have caught it! 
Listen!” 

Hardly had he ceased speaking, than the queer 


222 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

fish opened its mouth, and there came forth some¬ 
thing between a whine and a low groan. It was 
anything but singing, but to the professor, this 
was evidently to be preferred to the sweetest 
music. 

“Hear it sing! Hear it sing!” he cried. “You 
boys will be witness to it, for I’m afraid I can’t 
keep so large a fish alive until we get home. But 
it sang; didn’t it?” 

“Yes; if you call that singing,” remarked Bob 
in a low voice. “I’ve heard catfish do the same 
thing.” In fact, the noise made by the odd fish 
was not unlike the sound a catfish, or bullhead, 
makes when caught. But the professor was satis¬ 
fied. 

“Help me get him into a tank of water, until 
I make some notes about him while he is still 
alive,” the scientist begged, and the boys aided 
him. He was engaged in making copious notes 
about his prize, and Jerry was sending the Comet 
up into the air, when Bob, who was in the bow, 
looking upward, pointed at some object, and cried 
out: 

“The balloon! The Manhattan! There she 
is, boys! There is what we’ve been looking for 
so long!” 


CHAPTER XXIX 


THE UNCONSCIOUS CREW 

Hardly able to believe or realize wiiat Bob 
shouted, Jerry and Ned looked to where he 
pointed. There, in the air over their heads, per¬ 
haps a mile or two miles high, was a cigar-shaped, 
black object, floating along in a gentle wind. It 
looked like some big bird, winging its way over 
the ocean, but well the boys knew no birds would 
be so far from land. 

“It’s the balloon! The dirigible!” cried Bob 
again. 

“By Jove, Chunky!” yelled Ned, “I believe 
you’re right! Speed up, Jerry! Can it be possi¬ 
ble that we have really found her, and at last we 
will be able to see Mr. Jackson?” 

“It’s the balloon, all right,” agreed Jerry 
slowly. “But whether it’s the one we want or not, 
is another question.” 

“We’ll soon settle that. I’ll get the telescope,” 
cried Ned. 

He rushed into the main cabin, and came back 
223 


224 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

with the powerful glass. This he focused on the 
black object, which seemed to increase in size as 
the Comet, shooting upward, came nearer and 
nearer to it. 

“Well?” asked Jerry anxiously. 

“I can’t make out any name on it,” replied Ned, 
“but it’s a dirigible balloon, all right, and it’s 
hardly likely to be any other than the disabled 
Manhattan.” 

“Can you see any one on board?” asked Bob. 

“No; I can’t make out a soul. But they may 
be all inside the cabin.” 

“Or dead,” thought Jerry grimly, but he did 
not say so. He would hope for the best. 

“Let’s get there as fast as we can!” proposed 
Ned eagerly. “They may need help very much.” 

“And they may be hungry!” added Bob. “I’ll 
go get things ready for a meal.” And this time 
his chums did not laugh at him. The occasion was 
too serious. 

“We’d better be getting out the ropes and 
planks ready for a rescue,” suggested Jerry. 

“Are you really going to take off those people, 
if there are any in that balloon?” asked the pro¬ 
fessor, laying aside his note-books. 

“That’s the only thing to do,” said Jerry. “We 
can’t tow their disabled craft back, and the only 


THE UNCONSCIOUS CREW 


225 

thing to do is to rescue them in mid-air. Ned, 
suppose you and Mr. Snodgrass get out the planks 
and ropes, while Bob attends to the food, and 
I’ll get the Comet to the balloon as fast as the 
propellers will take her.” 

“Sure!” cried Ned eagerly. “Oh, to think that 
at last I’ve really got Mr. Jackson where he can’t 
get away from me! I wish I could send dad a 
wireless message, telling him of our success!” 

“Better wait until you get the signature,” sug¬ 
gested Jerry, for, somehow, he did not like the 
fact that there came no signal from the floating 
balloon. If the crew on board was alive, he ar¬ 
gued, they would naturally give some indication 
when they saw a craft coming to their rescue. But 
there was not the slightest sign of life aboard 
the Manhattan . 

More and more swiftly through the air rushed 
the Comet . She was now so close that many de¬ 
tails of the balloon could be made out, and the 
boys at once recognized it as the one they had 
seen leave the aviation grounds as they ap¬ 
proached. It was the missing Manhattan beyond 
a doubt. 

Ned and the professor were busy laying out the 
planks; Bob could be heard rattling about in the 
galley, and Jerry was doing his utmost to get the 


226 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

top limit of speed from the motor. The Comet 
was now on a level with the balloon, and was 
rapidly approaching. 

Setting the automatic steering apparatus, Jerry 
took up a telescope, and once more gazed through 
it at the balloon. As the craft came into focus, 
the youth uttered a strange cry. 

What s the matter?” demanded Ned, running 
toward his chum. 

Look,” answered Jerry hoarsely, passing over 
the glass. 

They’re all dead!” gasped the merchant’s son, 
as he focused the telescope. “AH dead!” 

For the sight that came to him through the 
glass was that of a number of men lying in vari¬ 
ous positions in the after or open cabin of the 
Manhattan. Men were stretched out on the floor, 
some were humped over in chairs, and one could 
be seen half in and half out of an open door that 
led into the cabin. 

“They’re all dead!” cried Ned again. “We’re 
too late!” 

“Maybe they’re only unconscious,” suggested 
Jerry hopefully, though his heart misgave him. 
“We’ll go closer and see.” 

Bob came from the galley to join his chums. 
As he reached them he sniffed the air suspiciously. 


THE UNCONSCIOUS CREW 227 

“What’s that funny smell?” he asked. “It’s 
like gas. Have you started our gas-machine, 
Jerry?” 

“Our gas-machine? No, but—I have it!” he 
cried suddenly. 

“What is it?” demanded Ned, catching a gleam 
of hope in Jerry’s tone. 

“It is gas! It’s gas escaping from the disabled 
balloon! That’s what has made the crew of the 
Manhattan unconscious. Perhaps they’re not 
dead at all, but overcome by gas. We must keep 
on to the rescue!” 


CHAPTER XXX 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 

The smell of escaping gas from the bag of the 
big balloon became more pronounced as the 
Comet approached. Eagerly the boys and Pro¬ 
fessor Snodgrass looked toward the disabled craft 
which was slowly drifting ahead of them, but 
which they were rapidly overhauling. 

“We hadn’t better go too close; had we?” sug¬ 
gested Bob. 

“Why not?” asked Jerry. “We’ve got to get 
pretty close or we can’t rescue them. The planks 
are about fifteen feet long, and we’ll have to come 
within that distance, anyhow, to make a bridge 
from the Manhattan to our deck.” 

“I was thinking of the gas,” went on the stout 
lad, who seemed to have some difficulty in breath¬ 
ing. “It might—we might be overcome,” and he 
coughed raspingly. 

“That’s so,” admitted Jerry, with a start. “I 
hadn’t thought of that. Whew! But that vapor 
228 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 


229 

is strong. It’s different from what we use. I 
wonder-” 

A fit of coughing interrupted him, and soon 
Ned and the professor were wheezing and sneez¬ 
ing, as the powerful fumes were wafted to them. 

“We can’t stand this!” gasped the tall lad. 
“No wonder these men are unconscious. It’s a 
slim chance if they’re alive, after breathing those 
fumes!” 

A look of despair came over Ned’s face. Was 
he, after all, to lose the last opportunity to aid 
his father? Was Mr. Jackson dead? 

“We can’t go any closer!” declared Jerry at 
length. “It will mean death or unconsciousness, 
if we do. I’ve got to halt the airship!” 

Coughing and spluttering, he made his way to 
the pilot house, and brought the motor to a stop. 
Then, as the Comet could no longer sustain her¬ 
self on her wings, being bereft of motion, she be¬ 
gan to sink, until Jerry started the gas-machine, 
making a dirigible balloon of the craft. With the 
big bag inflated, she floated lazily in the air, about 
a quarter of a mile from the Manhattan. Both 
were being driven slowly onward by a light wind. 

“Well, what’s to be done?” demanded Bob. 
Breathing was easier for them all now, as they 
were not so near the disabled balloon. 



230 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“That’s the problem,” declared Jerry. “We 
can’t go any closer without being in danger our¬ 
selves, and we can’t rescue those men until we get 
within ten or fifteen feet of them.” 

“Couldn’t we wait until all the gas escaped 
from their bag, and then venture up?” asked 
Ned. 

“By that time those men will be dead, if they 
are not lifeless already,” answered Jerry sol¬ 
emnly. 

It was a trying situation. To be within sight 
of the men they wanted to save, to be near Mr. 
Jackson, on whom so much depended, and yet not 
able to reach him and his companions, was tanta¬ 
lizing. Yet they all recognized the truth of what 
Jerry said. It would be death for them all to 
venture nearer. 

Professor Snodgrass, who had been curiously 
sniffing the air, as though to determine the nature 
of the gas, suddenly gave an exclamation. 

“Boys, I think I have it!” he cried eagerly. “I 
am not sure, but I think I know the composition 
of the gas used in the bag of that balloon. If I 
am right, I can easily manufacture, from the 
chemicals I have, something that will neutra¬ 
lize it.” 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 


231 


“Will you do it?” cried Ned eagerly. 

“I will, at once! Though I am not sure it will 
work. If it does, all that will be necessary to do 
will be to saturate a handkerchief with the solu¬ 
tion I will make, tie the cloth over our mouth and 
nose, and then all the gas breathed through it will 
be harmless.” 

“That’s just what we need!” exclaimed Jerry. 

The professor lost no time in getting to work. 
He mixed up various chemicals in a flask, heated 
them, and then wet a handkerchief in the liquid. 
Binding the cloth over his nose and mouth, he 
went out to breathe the air, which was still slightly 
laden with the poisonous fumes. The professor 
inhaled deeply. 

“Does it work?” asked Ned eagerly. 

“I think it does,” was the reply. “We will 
have to go nearer to make sure.” 

It did not take long for all to adjust the wet 
handkerchiefs over their mouths and noses. Jerry 
then started the propellers, and once more the 
Comet approached the Manhattan . Could they 
come close enough to make the rescue, and still 
be safe themselves? Each breath they drew would 
soon tell the story. 

Anxiously they noted the effect. 


232 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“I can’t smell or breathe any gas!” mumbled 
Ned, for the handkerchief interfered with speak¬ 
ing. 

“Me, neither,” added Ned. 

“It’s all right!” declared the professor. “We 
can go as close as we wish, but we can’t stay long, 
for the chemical will soon evaporate. Work 
lively, boys!” 

It was only a few minutes more before the 
Comet was close beside the disabled balloon. The 
latter was a large craft, and was floating easily 
along, her machinery silent. Silent, too, and mo¬ 
tionless, were the five men who constituted the 
pilot and crew. In various attitudes they were 
stretched in the open cabin, as if they had strug¬ 
gled there for air. It could not yet be told 
whether they were dead or alive. 

“Quick, now!” mumbled Jerry. “Run out the 
planks, and we’ll cross over and carry the men 
on board here.” 

He skillfully put the Comet alongside of the 
other craft. There they were, high in the air 
over the ocean, yet almost like two vehicles on 
earth, or two boats floating on the surface of the 
water. Jerry shut off the propellers, letting the 
Comet drift at the same rate as did the other 
craft. 





- 


CARRIED THE UNCONSCIOUS MILLIONAIRE ACROSS 
THE NARROW PLANKS. 


-Motor Boys Over the Ocean 


Page 233 















THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 


233 

With a rope, Jerry next made the two balloons 
fast to each other, to prevent them from drifting 
apart. Then two planks were laid across from 
the after-deck of the Comet to that of the Man - 
hattan. Quickly crossing on these, our heroes and 
the professor boarded the disabled airship. 

“There’s Mr. Jackson!” cried Mr. Snodgrass, 
indicating one of the unconscious men. 

“We must rescue him first!” declared Ned, and 
no one disputed him. With the help of Jerry, the 
merchant’s son carried the unconscious millionaire 
across the narrow planks, from one airship to the 
other, high above the ocean which rolled beneath 
them. It was a most marvellous rescue in mid-air! 

“Now the rest!” called the professor. He and 
Bob took up another man, and carried him to 
safety. When Jerry and Ned returned for a third 
member of the crew, the tall lad, looking into the 
main, or closed cabin, noticed some sparks coming 
from one of the electrical machines connected with 
the wireless apparatus. It was run by a storage 
battery, and must have been left connected and 
turned on when the men were stricken down. A 
stream of vivid, violet-colored sparks were ema¬ 
nating from the contact points. 

“By Jove, we must get away from here in a 
hurry!” cried the tall lad. 


234 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

“Why?” asked Ned, pausing in the act of lift¬ 
ing the feet of an unconscious man. 

“Those sparks!” gasped Jerry. “They may 
explode the gas any minute, and we’ll be blown 
to atoms! Lively, Ned!” 

Ned needed no urging. Rapidly he and Jerry 
once more crossed the plank in mid-air with the 
unfortunate man. On their next trip Jerry no¬ 
ticed that a blue light was playing about the ma¬ 
chine whence the sparks came. 

“She’ll go up in about a minute more!” he 
gasped. 

But two more men remained to be saved. 
These were quickly carried across the bridge in 
the air, and laid in the cabin of the Comet . 

“Cast off!” yelled Jerry, beginning to cough 
again, for the deadly fumes were manifesting 
themselves through the chemically saturated hand¬ 
kerchiefs. “Cast off!” 

It took but an instant to do it. The great pro¬ 
pellers were set in motion, and the Comet rapidly 
glided away from the Manhattan. The boys 
looked back at her, as she floated in mid-air. 

“We must see to those men!” directed Jerry, 
taking off the improvised mask, which was no 
longer needed. “Perhaps it is even now too late! 
Professor, will you help us?” 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 235 

“Of course. I think I know how to revive them, 
if there is a spark of life left.” 

“Look!” yelled Bob, pointing to the Manhat¬ 
tan . A haze of flame surrounded the unfortu¬ 
nate craft. 

“It’s all up with her!” cried Jerry. 

The next instant there came a terrific explosion, 
and the dirigible was scattered to the four winds, 
to fall in a shower of canvas, silk and broken ma¬ 
chinery into the sea, there to disappear from sight 
forever. 

“We got away just in time,” spoke Ned in awed 
tones. 

With the motor speeding her back across the 
ocean, over which she had so gallantly come a 
long distance, and with the automatic steering 
apparatus set to guide her, no attention need be 
paid to the Comet for some time. So the boys 
and the professor devoted their energies to re¬ 
viving the men. That they were not dead was 
soon established, though they were very nearly so. 

But Professor Snodgrass knew just what to do, 
and in about an hour, when some of the medicines 
they had brought had been administered, Mr. 
Jackson opened his eyes. 

“Where are we? What happened? Is there 
any hope? Can you see any vessel that will save 


236 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

us?” he gasped. Evidently he thought himself 
still aboard his own craft. 

“You are all right, Wescott!” said Mr. Snod¬ 
grass. “Don’t you know me?” 

“Uriah Snodgrass!” gasped the millionaire. 
“Well, of all things! How did you get aboard 
the Manhattan?” 

“I didn’t. It’s you who are aboard here. 
You’ve been rescued! The Manhattan is no 
more!” And the scientist quickly explained what 
had happened. 

Mr. Jackson rapidly recovered from the fumes 
of the gas, as did the members of the crew, and 
his friend, Mr. Watson, who had made the trip 
with him. Then the story of the rescue was told. 

In turn Mr. Jackson related how, after ascend¬ 
ing to a great height soon after leaving the avia¬ 
tion grounds, his craft was caught in the hurricane 
and driven out to sea. Then the propelling ma¬ 
chinery broke, and they could only drift about at 
the mercy of the wind. For days they were 
driven onward, thinking each hour would be their 
last. They tried to signal for help from steamers 
passing below them, but could not, as their wire¬ 
less was soon out of order, and they were too high 
up to make any other means effective. 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 


237 

They dared not descend, for fear of being 
drowned. Besides, to go down, they would have 
had to let the gas escape, and they had no means 
of making more. To keep afloat was their only 
hope, and they did, trusting to be rescued some 
time. Then they were blown out of the steamship 
lane, and did not know what to do. 

Finally, when they had given up hope, and 
were going to descend, and try to make some sort 
of a raft to float on, there came a leak in the 
gas-bag, and, one by one, they became uncon¬ 
scious. A little longer and they would have been 
dead. But the Comet came along in time. 

“Well, I certainly am glad to see you again, 
professor; and also your young friends,” said Mr. 
Jackson heartily, when he was feeling somewhat 
stronger. 

“And I’m glad to see you,” spoke Ned. 

“Yes, my friend here has a request to make of 
you,” went on Mr. Snodgrass, “and, if possible, 
I wish you would grant it. He has had quite a 
chase after you.” 

“I’d do most anything for you, Uriah,” de¬ 
clared the millionaire, with a smile, “for I haven t 
forgotten the service you did me.” 

“Then save Ned’s father from financial ruin,” 


238 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

was the request, and Ned at once brought out his 
papers, and made a plea for the rescue of his par¬ 
ent’s business. It did not take Mr. Jackson a 
moment to make up his mind. 

“Of course I’ll help Mr. Slade,” he said; “not 
only for his own sake, but because of his plucky 
son and his chums, and also to beat that gang of 
men who want to ruin him. Here, I’ll sign at 
once, and you can be a witness, Uriah.” There 
was the scratching of a pen, and Ned knew that 
his father’s troubles were practically over. 

Rapidly the Comet sped on her way, being 
headed toward New York. Every hour the res¬ 
cued ones recovered their strength, and soon all 
traces of the poisonous gas had vanished. Ned 
was eager to telegraph the good news to his 
father, and Jerry was soon able to get into wire¬ 
less communication with a steamer below them. 
The operator, though much surprised to get a 
message out of the air, readily promised to relay 
it to New York and Cresville, as his apparatus 
had a wider range than that of the Comet. 

“Well, I never expected to come so far over 
the ocean,” remarked Jerry the next day, when 
they were nearing the coast. “Our hydroplanes 
did us good service.” 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 239 

“They’re great,” commented Mr. Jackson. 
“I’m going to put them on the next air-craft I 
make.” 

“Only for them I’d never have my singing-fish,” 
said Mr. Snodgrass, who had made copious notes 
about his prize. It had died, but he had preserved 
it. “It is the most wonderful specimen I ever 
caught,” he declared. 

However, he soon afterward secured one that 
was even stranger, when, in company with our 
heroes, he went on another voyage with them. 
The details of this will be found in the next vol¬ 
ume of this Series, to be called “The Motor Boys 
on the Wing; or, Seeking the Airship Treasure.” 

“I wonder how it will seem to be on solid 
ground again?” asked Mr. Watson of Mr. Jack- 
son, when Jerry announced the next day that they 
were within sight of New York. 

“So good that I’m not going to leave it again in 
a hurry,” announced the millionaire. “I’m done 
with ballooning for the present, though I’m not 
going to give it up altogether.” 

They flew over New York, to the great aston¬ 
ishment of the millions of that great city, and on 
to the aviation ground, where a descent was made. 
There our heroes were royally received, and the 


240 MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

story of the marvellous rescue told over and over 
again. The matter of the claim of Mr. Muggins 
was adjusted, his lawyer advising him to accept 
one hundred dollars, which he reluctantly did, 
and the incident was closed. 

“Come on, let’s hurry home,” urged Ned, who 
was anxious to give his father the valuable paper. 
Mr. Jackson promised all the financial aid that 
Mr. Slade needed, and said he would be glad to 
see the merchant get the better of his financial 
enemies. 

And Mr. Slade did so. Thanks to the efforts 
of Ned and his chums, the business was saved by 
Mr. Jackson’s timely help, which was secured only 
after such an exciting chase. 

Cresville warmly welcomed the boys, who ar¬ 
rived in their motorship, and Andy Rush was so 
excited that he could only splutter for nearly half 
a day, no one being able to understand what he 
said. 

“It was great! Great! Great!” he finally man¬ 
aged to say, over and over again. 

“Would you undertake it another time, Jerry?” 
asked Ned one evening, when they were discuss¬ 
ing the recent happenings. 

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I would. It was 
dangerous, but we came out of it all right.” 


THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION 241 

“It’s a good thing I stocked up with plenty of ; 
provisions,” declared Bob, and his two chums 
laughed. And now, we will leave the Motor Boysi 
for a while, and say good-by. 




















The Motor Boys Series 

( Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.) 

By Clarence Young 

Cloth. l2mo. Illustrated. Price per volume* 60 oent9» postpaid 

The Motor Boys 

Or, Chums Through Thick and Thin 
In this volume is related how the three boys got together and planned to 
obtain a touring car and make a trip lasting through the summer. 


The Motor Boys Overland 

Or, A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune 
With the money won at the great motorcycle race the three boys purchase 
their touring car and commence their travels. 

The Motor Boys in Mexico 

Or, The Secret of the Buried City 

From our own country the scene is shifted to Mexico, where the motor boys 
journey in quest of a city said to have been buried centuries ago by an earth¬ 
quake. 

The Motor Boys Across the Plains 

Or, The Hermit of Lost Lake 

Unraveling the Mystery surrounding an old hermit and a boy. 

The Motor Boys Afloat 

Or, The Stirring Cruise of the Dartaway 
In this volume the boys take to a motorboat, and have many adventures. 


The Motor Boys on the Atlantic 

Or, The Mystery of the Lighthouse 

How the lads foiled the bad men who wanted to wreck a steamer by means of 
false lights is dramatically related. 

The Motor Boys in Strange Waters 

Or, Lost in a Floating Forest 

Telling of many adventures in the mysterious Everglades of Florida, 

The Motor Boys on the Pacific 

Or . The Young Derelict Hunters 

The derelict was of great value, and the hunt for it proved full of perils. 

The Motor Boys in the Clouds 

Or, A Trip for Fame and Fortune 

The boys fall in with an inventor and invest in a flying machine. After a 
number of stirring adventures in the clouds they enter a big race. 

The Motor Boys over the Rockies 

Or, A Mystery of the Air. 

Here is a story of airship adventures quite out of the ordinary. 


The Motor Boys Over the Ocean 

Or, A Marvellous Rescue in Mid-Air 

From the mountains the scene is shifted to the broad Atlantic. Once again 
the dauntless Motor Boys are to the front, in a series of happenings as interest 
ing as they are exciting. 


CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 



The Jack Ranger Series 

By Clarence Young 

Author of the Motor Boys Series 


Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid 



Jack Ranger’s Schooldays 

Or, The Rivals of Washington Hall 

YOU will love Jack Ranger—you simply can’t help it. 
He is so bright and cheery, and so real and lifelike. A 
typical boarding school tale, without a dull line in it. 

Jack Ranger's School Victories 

Or, Track, Gridiron and Diamond 

In this tale Jack gets back to Washington Hall and 
goes in for all sorts of school games. The rivalry is bitter 


at times, and enemies try to put Jack “in a hole” more than once. 


Jack Ranger's Western Trip 

Or, From Boarding School to Ranch and Range 
THIS volume takes the hero and several of his chums to the great West. At 
the ranch and on the range adventures of the strenuous sort befall him. 


Jack Ranger's Ocean Cruise 

Or, The Wreck of the Polly Ann 

HERE is a tale of the bounding sea, with many stirring adventures. How the 
ship was wrecked, and Jack was cast away, is told in a style all boys and girls 
will find exceedingly interesting. 

Jack Ranger's Gun Club 

Or, From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail 

Jack, with his chums, goes in quest of big game. The boys fall in with a 
mysterious body of men, and have a terrific slide down a mountain side. 

Jack Ranger's Treasure Box 

Or, The Outing of the School Boy Yachtsmen 

THIS story opens at school, but the scene is quickly shifted to the ocean. The 
schoolboy yachtsmen visit Porto Rico and other places, and have a long series 
of adventures, including some on a lonely island of the West Indies. A yachting 
story all lovers of the sea will wish to peruse. 


CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers 


NEW YORK 










The Motor Girl Series 

By Margaret Penrose 

Author of the highly successful Dorothy Dale Series 

Cloth. 12mo. Handsomely Illustrated and Beautifully Bound in 
decorated cover, stamped in several colors. Price 
per volume, 60 cents, postpaid. 

The Motor Girls 

Or, A Mystery of the Road 
WHEN Cora Kimball got her touring car she did not 
imagine so many adventures were in store for her. Dur¬ 
ing a trip from one city to another a rich young man lost 
a pocketbook containing valuable stocks and much cash. 
Later, to the surprise of everybody, the empty pocket- 
book was found in the tool box of Cora’s automobile. A 
fine tale that all wide-awake girls will appreciate. 

The Motor Girls on a Tour 

Or, Keeping a Strange Promise 

A great many things happen in this volume, starting with the running over of 
a hamper of good things lying in the road. A precious heirloom is missing, and 
how it was traced up is told with absorbing interest. 

The Motor Girls at Lookout Beach 

Or, In Quest of the Runaways 

There was great excitement when the Motor Girls decided to go to Lookout 
Beach for the summer. Just previous to departing, they visited a strawberry 
(arm, and there fell in with two little girls who were accused by a rich boarder 
of stealing a pair of diamond earings. They befriended the little runaways, and 
at last proved their innocence. 

The Motor Girls Through New England 

Or, Held by the Gypsies 

A strong story and one which will make this series more popular than ever. 
There is a robbery at the cottage where the Motor Girls are staying and one of 
them sees the burglar, who escapes. Later the man, who is a gypsy is captured. 
The girls go on a motoring trip through New England, and there the girl who 
saw the burglar is abducted and held by the Gypsies so that she cannot go into 
court to testify against the captured member of the band. 



CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 









(The College Sports Series 

By Lester Chadwick 

Cloth. 12mo. Handsomely Illustrated and beautifully bound in 
decorated cover, stamped in gold and several color* 

Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid. 

The Rival Pitchers 

A Story of College Baseball 
WHEN Tom Parsons went to Randall he was looked 
upon as a mere country lad, a “hayseed.” But Tom had 
played baseball at home and was a good pitcher, and he 
soon proved his ability, and was put on the scrub nine-. 
He had some bitter rivals, who tried to keep him down, 
but he got on the varsity at last. A faithful picture of 
college life of to-day, with its hazings, its grinds, its 
pretty girls and all. 

A Quarter«bach*s Pluck 

A Story cf College Football 

OF all college sports, football is undoubtedly king, and in this tale Mr. 
Chadwick has risen to the occasion by giving us something that is bound to grip 
the reader from start to finish. If you love football you will enjoy this volume 
and recommend it to your friends. 

Batting To Win 

A Story of College Baseball 

AS before, Tom, Phil and Sid are to the front. Sid. in particular, has developed 
into a heavy hitter, and the nine depend upon him to bring in the needed runs. 
And then something happens, and poor, misjudged Sid is barred from playing. 
Then at the last moment, Sid clears himself and is reinstated; and helps to 
pound out a victory that will make every reader feel like cheering. 

The Winning Touchdown 

A Story of College Football 

' FOOTBALL was a serious proposition at Randall that year, There had been 
the loss of several old players, and then, almost at the last moment, another 
good player had to be dropped. How, in the end, they made that glorious touch¬ 
down that won the big game, is told in a way that must be read to be apprec¬ 
iated. Beyond doubt, one of the greatest college football stories ever penned. 


>!E 

FflVV 

THE RIVAL 

X* 

PITCHERS 

5' 

fc 



jjtfu 

^>3 OUBWICK. 




CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 









The Darewell Chums Series 

By JHlen Chapman 

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. 60 cents each, postpaid. 

The Darewell Chums 

Or, The Heroes of the School 

A BRIGHT, lively story for boys, telling of the doings of four chums, at school 
and elsewhere. There is a strong holding plot, and several characters who are 
highly amusing. Any youth getting this book will consider it a prize and tell 
all his friends about it. 

The Darewell Chums in the City 

Or, The Disappearance of Ned Wilding 

FROM a country town the scene is changed to a great city. One of the chums 
has disappeared in an extraordinary manner, and the others Institute a hunt for 
him. The youths befriend a city waif, who in turn makes a revelation which 
clears up the mystery. 

The Darewell Chums in the Woods 

Or, Frank Roscoe's Secret 

THE boys had planned for a grand outing when some* 
thing happened of which none of them had dreamed. 
They thought one of their number had done a great 
wrong—at least it looked so. But they could not really 
believe the accusations made, so they set to work to help 
Frank all they could. All went camping some miles 
from home, and when not hunting and fishing spent their 
time in learning the truth of what had occurred. 

The Darewell Chums on a Cruise 

Or, Fenn Masterson's Odd Discovery 

A TALE of the Great Lakes. The boys run across some Canadian smugglers 
and stumble on the secret of a valuable mine. 

The Darewell Chums in a Winter Camp 

Or, Bart Keene's Best Shot 

HERE is a lively tale of ice and snow, of jolly good times in a winter camp, 
hunting and trapping, and of taking it easy around a roaring campfire. 



CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 








The Dorothy Dale Series 

By Margaret Penrose 

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid 

Dorothy Dale: A Girl of To=Day 

DOROTHY is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is running a 
weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. When her father falls sick, the girl 
shows what she can do to support the family. 

Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School 

MORE prosperous times have come to the Dale family, 
and Major Dale resolves to send Dorothy to a boarding 
school to complete her education. At Glenwood School 
the girl makes a host of friends and has many good times. 
But some girls are jealous of Dorothy’s popularity, and 
and they seek to get her into trouble in more ways than 
one. 

Dorothy Dale’s Great Secret 

A SPLENDID story of one girl’s devotion to another. Dorothy’s chum ran 
away to join a theatrical company. What Dorothy did, and how she kept the 
secret, makes a tale no girl will care to miss. 

Dorothy Dale and her Chums 

A STORY of school life, and of strange adventures among the gypsies, 
Dorothy befriends a little French girl and also a gypsy waif, in a manner sure to 
touch the hearts of all readers. 

Dorothy Dale’s Queer Holidays 

RELATES the details of a mystery that surrounded Tanglewood Park. 
There is a great snowstorm, and the young folks become snowbound, much to 
their dismay. 

Dorothy Dale’s Camping Days 

A GREAT variety of things happen in this volume, from the moment 
Dorothy and her chums are met coming down the hillside on a treacherous load 
of hay, until all the various complications are cleared up in the final chapter. 



CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 









The Great Marvel Series 

By Roy Rockwood 

l2mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume. 60 cents, postpaid 

Through the Air to the North Pole 

Or, The Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch 
SINCE the days of Jules Verne, tales of flying machines 
and submarine boats have enjoyed increasing popularity. 
Now that airships and submarines are in actual existence, 
this story seems perfectly natural. Full of adventures in 
strange places, with strange people and strange animals. 

Under the Ocean to the South Pole 

Or, The Strange Cruise of the Submarine Wonder 
THE vessel moves from the coast of Maine to the boil¬ 
ing sea of the South Pole, and during the trip the voyagers visit the bottom of the 
ocean—the graveyard of many ships—and have numerous stirring encounters 
with deep-sea monsters. 

Five Thousand Miles Underground 

Or, The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth 
A CRAFT is built which will sail both in the air and under tne water, and in 
this the adventurers descend to the interior of our globe by means of a hole 
found at an island in the ocean. 

Through Space to Mars 

Or, The Longest Journey on Record 

A THRILLING tale of a visit to the planet Mars. The adventurers meet with 
many happenings out of the ordinary. The volume reads like the record of a 
real trip. 

Lost on the Moon 

Or, In Quest of the Field of Diamonds 
IN a like manner to their visit to Mars, the heroes visit the Moon. They 
search for a field of diamonds and find the moon to be a land of desolation and 
silence. They almost perish from cold and hunger. A startling romance that will 
hold and charm every reader. 



CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 

















The Webster Series 

By Frank V . Webster 

MR. WEBSTER’S style is very much like that 
of the boys’ favorite author, the late lamented Horatio 
Alger. Jr., but his tales are thoroughly up-to-date. 
The stories are as clean as they are clever, and will 
prove of absorbing interest to boys everywhere. 

Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. 
Illustrated. Stamped in various colors. 
Price per volume, 40 cents, postpaid. 

Only A Farm Boy 

Or, Dan Hardy's Rise in Life 

Tom The Telephone Boy 

Or, The Mystery of a Message 

The Boy From The Ranch 

Or, Roy Bradner's City Experiences 

The Young Treasure Hunter 

Or, Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska 

Bob The Castaway 

Or, The Wreck of the Eagle 

The Young Firemen of Lakeville 

Or, Herbert Dare's Pluck 

The Newsboy Partners 

Or, Who Was Dick Box? 

The Boy Pilots of the Lakes 

Or, Nat Morton's Perils 

Two Boy Gold Miners 

Or, Lost in the Mountains 

Jack The Runaway 

Or, On the Road with a Circus 

Comrades of the Saddle 

Or, The Young Rough Riders of the Plains 

' The Boys of Bellwood School 

Or, Frank Jordan's Triumph 

Bob Chester’s Grit 

Or, From Ranch to Riches 

Airship Andy 

Or, The Luck of a Brave Boy 

The High School Rivals 

Or, Fred Markham.'s Struggles 

Darry The Life Saver 

Or, The Heroes of the Coast 

Dick The Bank Boy 

Or, A Missing Fortune 

Ben Hardy’s Flying Machine 

Or, Making a Record for Himself 

CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK 



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